It was only fitting that Riverheads' only active senior, Dakota Cave, scored the first basket tonight as the Big Red rolled over Stonewall Jackson 62-45. It now appears that the two will meet again next Friday, also at RHS, in the opening round of the Conference 44 playoffs.
Cave's opening bucket jump-started the Gladiators to a 17-4 first quarter lead and they were never seriously challenged in this one as they picked up their fourth win of the season. They cooled down somewhat in the second quarter as the visitors trimmed the lead to 28-20 at the break.
However, RHS erased any thoughts of a comeback in the third quarter, or it might be more accurate to say that Brett Hostetler did, as the Gladiator point guard went on a personal 11-point scoring spree, which included three triples, all within about a three-minute span. The Big Red was leading 31-20 at the time, but by the time he finished, that lead had ballooned to 42-20 and the fat lady had started to warm up.
Speaking of "warming up", the refs certainly did that with their whistles as each team battled foul trouble. Riverheads had most of its concerns in the first half as at least 4 players had either two or three fouls by the break. Amazingly they never lost anybody, but as the game wound down, each team was on the double bonus and the already-short-handed Generals did in fact lose two to disqualification in the final minute or so of the game.
With each team having a steady parade to the foul line, the fourth quarter ended up 22-20 in favor of the Generals. The final score gave the Gladiators their highest-scoring game of the season as well as their largest victory margin.
Hostetler led the way with 17, and he was joined in double figures by big man Austin Craft with 12. Craft had already enjoyed his season-high game with a 16-point effort up in Quicksburg as the Generals simply don't have anyone his size, allowing him to get some easy shots and stickbacks. Four other Gladiators scored at least 6 points, including a nice 9-point game from energetic freshman Forrest Shuey, who is already developing a reputation as a banger.
Speaking of younger folks, the Riverheads JVs picked up a 50-36 win over the Junior Generals. This was RHS' fifth straight win with its primarily eighth-grade line-up and they are now 13-4 on the season.
There will be no rest for the weary as the Big Red hits the road for a non-district tilt at Bath County tomorrow, with a 1:00 JV start. Chances are that one will already be in the record books by the time some of you read about this one!
In an extra special moment tonight for the Gladiators, Ben Agnor was honored, and deservedly so, during the Senior Night festivities. As most of you know, he was expected to have enjoyed an all-state caliber football season and would have helped the basketball team as well. But a knee injury in the very first football game changed all of that and kept him out of action for his entire senior year. To his credit, he was found right on the bench alongside his teammates during both seasons, more than justifying the honors he received tonight.
Cave's opening bucket jump-started the Gladiators to a 17-4 first quarter lead and they were never seriously challenged in this one as they picked up their fourth win of the season. They cooled down somewhat in the second quarter as the visitors trimmed the lead to 28-20 at the break.
However, RHS erased any thoughts of a comeback in the third quarter, or it might be more accurate to say that Brett Hostetler did, as the Gladiator point guard went on a personal 11-point scoring spree, which included three triples, all within about a three-minute span. The Big Red was leading 31-20 at the time, but by the time he finished, that lead had ballooned to 42-20 and the fat lady had started to warm up.
Speaking of "warming up", the refs certainly did that with their whistles as each team battled foul trouble. Riverheads had most of its concerns in the first half as at least 4 players had either two or three fouls by the break. Amazingly they never lost anybody, but as the game wound down, each team was on the double bonus and the already-short-handed Generals did in fact lose two to disqualification in the final minute or so of the game.
With each team having a steady parade to the foul line, the fourth quarter ended up 22-20 in favor of the Generals. The final score gave the Gladiators their highest-scoring game of the season as well as their largest victory margin.
Hostetler led the way with 17, and he was joined in double figures by big man Austin Craft with 12. Craft had already enjoyed his season-high game with a 16-point effort up in Quicksburg as the Generals simply don't have anyone his size, allowing him to get some easy shots and stickbacks. Four other Gladiators scored at least 6 points, including a nice 9-point game from energetic freshman Forrest Shuey, who is already developing a reputation as a banger.
Speaking of younger folks, the Riverheads JVs picked up a 50-36 win over the Junior Generals. This was RHS' fifth straight win with its primarily eighth-grade line-up and they are now 13-4 on the season.
There will be no rest for the weary as the Big Red hits the road for a non-district tilt at Bath County tomorrow, with a 1:00 JV start. Chances are that one will already be in the record books by the time some of you read about this one!
In an extra special moment tonight for the Gladiators, Ben Agnor was honored, and deservedly so, during the Senior Night festivities. As most of you know, he was expected to have enjoyed an all-state caliber football season and would have helped the basketball team as well. But a knee injury in the very first football game changed all of that and kept him out of action for his entire senior year. To his credit, he was found right on the bench alongside his teammates during both seasons, more than justifying the honors he received tonight.
