Apparently they grow them bigger in Fishersville these days because the Green Hornets brought a couple of very tall teams over to Greenville tonight and Riverheads did not have the size to match up with either one of them. As a result the happy Hornet fans went home with two victories, winning the Varsity contest 67-55.
The game was essentially decided in the first quarter. Wilson took immediate control, using not only its size advantage but its quickness. After a 2-2 tie, the Hornets scored the next 7 points and never looked back. The score was 20-6 after the first quarter and for most of the second quarter the margin was 20 or more.
Riverheads had hit a school-record 15 triples just last night in a win over Mountain View but in the first half of tonight's game, Wilson was doing a good job defending the three by cutting off the passing lanes. As a result the Gladiators only managed to hit two triples in the first half and they went to the locker room trailing the visitors 38-18.
I told my seat mate that all I asked of the Big Red was for them to come back and play the second half with some pride and they did exactly that. They opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run that cut the lead down to 40-26 and you could tell that they were getting into the flow of the game.
The lead however was too much for RHS to overcome and Wilson was hitting just enough of its shots to hold the lead at a comfortable level. The Gladiators did manage to cut it to 11 midway through the fourth quarter and had the ball with a chance to trim it to single digits but 55-44 was as close as they got. Helping the Big Red's 37-point second half was a much better three point performance as they finished the game with eight, just a shade off their season average.
Again the Big Red showed some nice balance as those eight triples came from five different players, with Bennett Dunlap leading the way with four of them. The other four came from Jackson Brammer, Will Gardner, Carter Mooneyham, and Aden Slack. The latter was probably the feel-good moment of the night for Riverheads as Slack's motor runs constantly during the game and he is one of the Gladiators' top defensive specialists. So far this season he has mainly been a garbageman around the bucket but he likes to try the three whenever he can and tonight he hit one for his personal highlight reel.
Also worthy of special mention tonight was Gabe Milo, who was the second leading scorer for RHS with 10. Like Slack, he is also a constant energy source for the Gladiators and usually earns his points the hard way inside. Tonight he also drew the assignment of trying to stop Finn Irving, the best player in the district, and although Irving led all scorers with 19, you could tell that Milo was making him work for everything he got.
So although a fourth straight win for the Gladiators would have been nice, the size and depth differential were just too much tonight as the Hornets are most likely the favorites to win the district. But the Gladiators are to be commended for coming back and playing hard until the final whistle. Their next game will be at suddenly-dangerous Waynesboro Tuesday night.
As already mentioned, Wilson also won the JV game tonight. That one was the exact opposite of the varsity game in that Riverheads was still in it at the break, trailing by only 6 points. But they went stone cold in the second half, allowing Wilson to pull away to a 51-24 win. Just like the Varsity, Wilson has some scary size on that JV team, so Coach Hartman just might be on the verge of a dynasty over there.
The game was essentially decided in the first quarter. Wilson took immediate control, using not only its size advantage but its quickness. After a 2-2 tie, the Hornets scored the next 7 points and never looked back. The score was 20-6 after the first quarter and for most of the second quarter the margin was 20 or more.
Riverheads had hit a school-record 15 triples just last night in a win over Mountain View but in the first half of tonight's game, Wilson was doing a good job defending the three by cutting off the passing lanes. As a result the Gladiators only managed to hit two triples in the first half and they went to the locker room trailing the visitors 38-18.
I told my seat mate that all I asked of the Big Red was for them to come back and play the second half with some pride and they did exactly that. They opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run that cut the lead down to 40-26 and you could tell that they were getting into the flow of the game.
The lead however was too much for RHS to overcome and Wilson was hitting just enough of its shots to hold the lead at a comfortable level. The Gladiators did manage to cut it to 11 midway through the fourth quarter and had the ball with a chance to trim it to single digits but 55-44 was as close as they got. Helping the Big Red's 37-point second half was a much better three point performance as they finished the game with eight, just a shade off their season average.
Again the Big Red showed some nice balance as those eight triples came from five different players, with Bennett Dunlap leading the way with four of them. The other four came from Jackson Brammer, Will Gardner, Carter Mooneyham, and Aden Slack. The latter was probably the feel-good moment of the night for Riverheads as Slack's motor runs constantly during the game and he is one of the Gladiators' top defensive specialists. So far this season he has mainly been a garbageman around the bucket but he likes to try the three whenever he can and tonight he hit one for his personal highlight reel.
Also worthy of special mention tonight was Gabe Milo, who was the second leading scorer for RHS with 10. Like Slack, he is also a constant energy source for the Gladiators and usually earns his points the hard way inside. Tonight he also drew the assignment of trying to stop Finn Irving, the best player in the district, and although Irving led all scorers with 19, you could tell that Milo was making him work for everything he got.
So although a fourth straight win for the Gladiators would have been nice, the size and depth differential were just too much tonight as the Hornets are most likely the favorites to win the district. But the Gladiators are to be commended for coming back and playing hard until the final whistle. Their next game will be at suddenly-dangerous Waynesboro Tuesday night.
As already mentioned, Wilson also won the JV game tonight. That one was the exact opposite of the varsity game in that Riverheads was still in it at the break, trailing by only 6 points. But they went stone cold in the second half, allowing Wilson to pull away to a 51-24 win. Just like the Varsity, Wilson has some scary size on that JV team, so Coach Hartman just might be on the verge of a dynasty over there.
