With the boys at home and the girls playing at the Gap, it was almost a perfect night for the Big Red as they won three of the four games and almost won the fourth one. The varsity boys rolled past the Bison 59-42, whereas the varsity girls pulled out a 41-40 squeaker. The JV girls knocked off the Bison 28-21 and in their only win of the night, the Bison JVs rallied past Riverheads 43-39.
Since I was at Riverheads for the boys action, I can only report on that. The Gladiator JVs scored the first four points in less than 30 seconds and led by as many as eight in the first half. They would go on to lead the game for the first three quarters as BG did not take the lead until the opening minute of the fourth.
Once they grabbed the lead, they built their own eight-point advantage, helped along somewhat by a questionable call late in the game that not only went their way, but also drew a technical on the RHS coach. Gladiator fans were a tad bewildered as well as Aiden Miller was headed down the floor for a breakaway layup with Riverheads still having a chance to pull out the win.
It appeared to most of us that he was grabbed by a Bison defender around the foul line, after which he continued and made the shot. As the whistle blew, the home fans were hoping for either an "and one" or perhaps an intentional foul. Instead the ref signaled common foul before the shot and was ready to hand the ball to Riverheads out of bounds.
Not satisfied with that call, RHS Coach Doug Harris questioned it in what seemed to be a fairly calm manner. But he must have said "heck" or "shucks," because he was slapped with a T, which meant no points and no possession for the Big Red, and the Bison held on for the win. Let's just say that every coach who has ever stood on the sideline has behaved much worse than he did and gotten by with it, so this particular ref must have had a low tolerance level.
As for the varsity game, that 17 point final margin does not tell the story as the Gladiators put this one away very early and led by as many as 28 before the Bison trimmed the margin down in the later stages.
Forrest Shuey started things off with a garbage bucket for the Big Red, and the Bison briefly tied things at 2-2. But then Drew Bond took over, knocking down three triples within about three minutes, followed by two more from Elijah Dunlap as the Gladiators exploded out of the gates for a 23-7 first quarter advantage.
With five triples already in the books and some of us knowing that the school record for a game was 12, we wondered if the Gladiators would keep pouring it on and perhaps set a new mark, but instead the two early hot shooters cooled off and did not hit any more at all, but three more guys hit one each, giving RHS a total of eight by the end of the game.
Josh Kinzel got the honors in the second quarter as RHS extended its lead to 20 at the break, 37-17. In the third quarter, much to everyone's surprise, Shuey rattled one in from the right wing. The senior forward has always had a nice set shot when he has time, but this was believed to be his first career triple. Not only that but he becomes the eighth Gladiator on a 10-man squad who has hit at least one three this season. The Gladiators went on to take their biggest lead of the game at 49-21 before the Bison closed out the quarter on a 4-0 spurt.
With subs finishing out the game for Riverheads, Adam Painter became the fifth Gladiator to score from behind the arc, but BG owned the fourth quarter 17-10, allowing them to trim the lead down to a more respectable margin.
Ironically for Riverheads, its team leader Grant Painter, who has hit as many as eight three-pointers in a game during his career, was NOT one of the five tonight to hit one, but he still tied Bond for leading scorer with 15. The remaining Gladiator points were spread out between five players as Zack Adams had 7, Dunlap and Kinzel each had 6, and Shuey and AP finished with five each. As we were leaving I think I heard that Weston Smith led the Bison attack with 12.
With the win, the Gladiators complete the season sweep of their county rivals and improved their records to 8-5 in district play and 9-6 overall. At this stage, given their remaining schedule, a top four finish in the Shenandoah and an overall winning season each appear to be well within their grasp.
For the immediate future, the Gladiators will earn their frequent-rider miles as they have, count 'em, three road games in just four calendar days. Fortunately they are all short trips as they will meet Luray Saturday morning in Lexington during the Rock the Ribbon shootout, followed by a Monday night trip to Fort Defiance and a Tuesday game at R E Lee. They then get to finish the regular season at home with games against Parry McCluer on the 1st and Page County on the 5th.
Since I was at Riverheads for the boys action, I can only report on that. The Gladiator JVs scored the first four points in less than 30 seconds and led by as many as eight in the first half. They would go on to lead the game for the first three quarters as BG did not take the lead until the opening minute of the fourth.
Once they grabbed the lead, they built their own eight-point advantage, helped along somewhat by a questionable call late in the game that not only went their way, but also drew a technical on the RHS coach. Gladiator fans were a tad bewildered as well as Aiden Miller was headed down the floor for a breakaway layup with Riverheads still having a chance to pull out the win.
It appeared to most of us that he was grabbed by a Bison defender around the foul line, after which he continued and made the shot. As the whistle blew, the home fans were hoping for either an "and one" or perhaps an intentional foul. Instead the ref signaled common foul before the shot and was ready to hand the ball to Riverheads out of bounds.
Not satisfied with that call, RHS Coach Doug Harris questioned it in what seemed to be a fairly calm manner. But he must have said "heck" or "shucks," because he was slapped with a T, which meant no points and no possession for the Big Red, and the Bison held on for the win. Let's just say that every coach who has ever stood on the sideline has behaved much worse than he did and gotten by with it, so this particular ref must have had a low tolerance level.
As for the varsity game, that 17 point final margin does not tell the story as the Gladiators put this one away very early and led by as many as 28 before the Bison trimmed the margin down in the later stages.
Forrest Shuey started things off with a garbage bucket for the Big Red, and the Bison briefly tied things at 2-2. But then Drew Bond took over, knocking down three triples within about three minutes, followed by two more from Elijah Dunlap as the Gladiators exploded out of the gates for a 23-7 first quarter advantage.
With five triples already in the books and some of us knowing that the school record for a game was 12, we wondered if the Gladiators would keep pouring it on and perhaps set a new mark, but instead the two early hot shooters cooled off and did not hit any more at all, but three more guys hit one each, giving RHS a total of eight by the end of the game.
Josh Kinzel got the honors in the second quarter as RHS extended its lead to 20 at the break, 37-17. In the third quarter, much to everyone's surprise, Shuey rattled one in from the right wing. The senior forward has always had a nice set shot when he has time, but this was believed to be his first career triple. Not only that but he becomes the eighth Gladiator on a 10-man squad who has hit at least one three this season. The Gladiators went on to take their biggest lead of the game at 49-21 before the Bison closed out the quarter on a 4-0 spurt.
With subs finishing out the game for Riverheads, Adam Painter became the fifth Gladiator to score from behind the arc, but BG owned the fourth quarter 17-10, allowing them to trim the lead down to a more respectable margin.
Ironically for Riverheads, its team leader Grant Painter, who has hit as many as eight three-pointers in a game during his career, was NOT one of the five tonight to hit one, but he still tied Bond for leading scorer with 15. The remaining Gladiator points were spread out between five players as Zack Adams had 7, Dunlap and Kinzel each had 6, and Shuey and AP finished with five each. As we were leaving I think I heard that Weston Smith led the Bison attack with 12.
With the win, the Gladiators complete the season sweep of their county rivals and improved their records to 8-5 in district play and 9-6 overall. At this stage, given their remaining schedule, a top four finish in the Shenandoah and an overall winning season each appear to be well within their grasp.
For the immediate future, the Gladiators will earn their frequent-rider miles as they have, count 'em, three road games in just four calendar days. Fortunately they are all short trips as they will meet Luray Saturday morning in Lexington during the Rock the Ribbon shootout, followed by a Monday night trip to Fort Defiance and a Tuesday game at R E Lee. They then get to finish the regular season at home with games against Parry McCluer on the 1st and Page County on the 5th.
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