You guys are accustomed to my long rambling stories on the Riverheads boys games but tonight I just couldn't make it down to A'town, so instead I went out to RHS where the Lady Gladiators were hosting Luray with a regional berth on the line.
This turned out to be a game of spurts as the teams took turns having extended scoring runs. The home team just happened to be the ones that had the final spurt as they ended the game on an 8-0 run, just when it looked like Luray might be ready to clinch it.
After a Meghan Seaman triple opened the game for Luray, the Gladiators had the first of their spurts as they scored eight in a row to grab an early five-point lead. Luray then had the biggest scoring surge of the night (13-0) as they took an 11-8 lead at the end of one and then scored the first five points of the second quarter.
They stretched the margin out even further as they took their largest lead of the night at 20-11, before the Big Red closed out the half with a 7-0 run to make it 20-18. Macey Snyder and Morgan Bond each had three-pointers in the Gladiator second quarter, whereas most of the Luray points were coming from Seaman and her fellow seniors Katelyn Keyser and Michaela Nichols.
As the second half opened, it was the Bulldogs' turn and they obliged with a 5-0 start to open their lead up to 25-18. Riverheads then said "Oh it's our turn now" and scored eight in a row to grab their first lead of the second half at 26-25. The teams then traded buckets for one of the few times all evening as the third quarter ended with RHS on top 28-27.
If you have been following our story, you know what happened next! That's right.... Luray opened the fourth quarter with an 8-1 spurt (sorry to keep overusing that word!) and with the clock ticking down close to three minutes and the visitors ahead 35-29, things did not look good for RHS.
Emma Casto started the rally off with a steal and driving lay-up which turned into an "and one" and suddenly the Gladiators were within 35-32. Moments later Blake Bartley, who had been relatively quiet all night, drained a triple from the right wing to tie the score with roughly a minute and a half left.
On the ensuing Luray possession, RHS' Cassidey Chrisman forced a held ball (more on her in a moment) and the arrow pointed Riverheads' way. With about 50 seconds left, the Gladiators worked it in to Chrisman for the good shot and she laid it in for what would turn out to be the final points of the game with about 18 seconds left on the clock.
Luray had hit four or five triples of their own earlier in the evening so just about everybody in the gym knew that they were capable of still pulling out the win, especially considering that they had beaten the Lady Gladiators in both regular season games.
But on this evening, they missed their first attempt and Chrisman forced yet another held ball with about 7 seconds left. The possession remained with Luray and they got off at least two more shots in a frantic scramble before a travel was called with only .8 left. The Luray fans (all 16-18 of them that made the trip) howled at that one, but the girl was falling backwards very awkwardly and it seemed like the logical call. Even if it had been a foul as they wanted, it would have only been RHS' sixth of the half, since it could not have been considered a shooting foul.
It was the kind of game you hated to see either team lose, especially with so much at stake. The Luray seniors gave it their all and have nothing to be ashamed of, but it will be the Gladiators who will move on to face Altavista tomorrow night for the Conference 44 crown and then wait to see where they play next week in the regionals.
Chrisman was clearly the best player on the floor tonight for RHS. She scored the first six Riverheads points in the game, she forced at least half a dozen tie-ups, including the ones I mentioned, and she scored the winning bucket. If ever there was a senior who did not want her season to end, she was the one. On the way out, I heard the PA announcer say she had hit her season scoring high tonight, but I did not catch the point total. Another senior, Morgan Bond, also had a nice game.
Regardless of where the Lady Gladiators end up this year, they will return four seniors next year in Casto, Bartley, Snyder, and tiny but feisty point guard Christa Arehart, all of whom will be on the varsity for a fourth season. If they are playing this time next season with the same determination that Chrisman showed tonight, the Lady Gladiators will not be an easy out for anyone.
This turned out to be a game of spurts as the teams took turns having extended scoring runs. The home team just happened to be the ones that had the final spurt as they ended the game on an 8-0 run, just when it looked like Luray might be ready to clinch it.
After a Meghan Seaman triple opened the game for Luray, the Gladiators had the first of their spurts as they scored eight in a row to grab an early five-point lead. Luray then had the biggest scoring surge of the night (13-0) as they took an 11-8 lead at the end of one and then scored the first five points of the second quarter.
They stretched the margin out even further as they took their largest lead of the night at 20-11, before the Big Red closed out the half with a 7-0 run to make it 20-18. Macey Snyder and Morgan Bond each had three-pointers in the Gladiator second quarter, whereas most of the Luray points were coming from Seaman and her fellow seniors Katelyn Keyser and Michaela Nichols.
As the second half opened, it was the Bulldogs' turn and they obliged with a 5-0 start to open their lead up to 25-18. Riverheads then said "Oh it's our turn now" and scored eight in a row to grab their first lead of the second half at 26-25. The teams then traded buckets for one of the few times all evening as the third quarter ended with RHS on top 28-27.
If you have been following our story, you know what happened next! That's right.... Luray opened the fourth quarter with an 8-1 spurt (sorry to keep overusing that word!) and with the clock ticking down close to three minutes and the visitors ahead 35-29, things did not look good for RHS.
Emma Casto started the rally off with a steal and driving lay-up which turned into an "and one" and suddenly the Gladiators were within 35-32. Moments later Blake Bartley, who had been relatively quiet all night, drained a triple from the right wing to tie the score with roughly a minute and a half left.
On the ensuing Luray possession, RHS' Cassidey Chrisman forced a held ball (more on her in a moment) and the arrow pointed Riverheads' way. With about 50 seconds left, the Gladiators worked it in to Chrisman for the good shot and she laid it in for what would turn out to be the final points of the game with about 18 seconds left on the clock.
Luray had hit four or five triples of their own earlier in the evening so just about everybody in the gym knew that they were capable of still pulling out the win, especially considering that they had beaten the Lady Gladiators in both regular season games.
But on this evening, they missed their first attempt and Chrisman forced yet another held ball with about 7 seconds left. The possession remained with Luray and they got off at least two more shots in a frantic scramble before a travel was called with only .8 left. The Luray fans (all 16-18 of them that made the trip) howled at that one, but the girl was falling backwards very awkwardly and it seemed like the logical call. Even if it had been a foul as they wanted, it would have only been RHS' sixth of the half, since it could not have been considered a shooting foul.
It was the kind of game you hated to see either team lose, especially with so much at stake. The Luray seniors gave it their all and have nothing to be ashamed of, but it will be the Gladiators who will move on to face Altavista tomorrow night for the Conference 44 crown and then wait to see where they play next week in the regionals.
Chrisman was clearly the best player on the floor tonight for RHS. She scored the first six Riverheads points in the game, she forced at least half a dozen tie-ups, including the ones I mentioned, and she scored the winning bucket. If ever there was a senior who did not want her season to end, she was the one. On the way out, I heard the PA announcer say she had hit her season scoring high tonight, but I did not catch the point total. Another senior, Morgan Bond, also had a nice game.
Regardless of where the Lady Gladiators end up this year, they will return four seniors next year in Casto, Bartley, Snyder, and tiny but feisty point guard Christa Arehart, all of whom will be on the varsity for a fourth season. If they are playing this time next season with the same determination that Chrisman showed tonight, the Lady Gladiators will not be an easy out for anyone.
