Wasn't sure where to put this one since RHS is a 1-A school, but since Nelson is 2-A I will put it on here. Anyway, no complaints at all about my Gladiators' effort in this one tonight.
Considering that they had just traveled to Page last night, considering that they were on the road again, considering that Nelson has a deep, senior-dominated roster compared to Riverheads' extreme youth, this was not a bad game at all for the Big Red. It may have been their sixth loss to open the season, but the schedule has been tough and everyone I talk to in the stands tells me the kids are having fun, staying focused, and that they know the wins will come, especially now that this brutal early road schedule is behind them.
The encouraging thing about tonight's game was that the Big Red stayed with the Governors pretty much the entire game. The lead briefly reached double digits early in the fourth quarter, but Riverheads rallied back to cut it to six and even had a three-pointer rim out that would have cut it to three. So just a lucky bounce or two here and there and it could have been a different game.
Coach Coffey is no doubt pleased with the balance he received tonight, as all five starters contributed and scored between 6 and 8 points. So maybe soon that can become 10-12 points per man per outing......Just saying.
As for Nelson, they didn't display the degree of athleticism they had in the first game at Riverheads (a 61-53 overtime win) and if it were not for some offensive highlights from Anthony Lee, the sparse Nelson crowd might not have had much to cheer about. It was overall a very quiet game tonight for some reason and neither team seemed to show any interest in ramping up the pace.
In the JV game, the Gladiators had a 4-point halftime lead before Grant Painter opened the third quarter with a personal eight-point spurt that gave the Big Red a double digit lead. He later added six free throws down the stretch to preserve a 39-30 win. The Gladiators are now 4-2 on the season but are at least temporarily without the services of talented eighth-grader Braeson Fulton. He seemed to tweak an ankle last night in the final few seconds at Page and was not at the game tonight. So it remains to be seen what the deal is there and how long he may be out of commission.
As I had mentioned in other threads, the Gladiators are now finished with the worst part of their schedule. To open with four out of six on the road against the likes of East Rock, Page and Luray was asking a lot of such a small, young team. But that stretch is behind them now, and if they can play as well as they did in this series against Nelson, there will be some wins coming right around the corner. Next up is a Friday home date with Wilson, followed by a Monday road trip to Stonewall.
Considering that they had just traveled to Page last night, considering that they were on the road again, considering that Nelson has a deep, senior-dominated roster compared to Riverheads' extreme youth, this was not a bad game at all for the Big Red. It may have been their sixth loss to open the season, but the schedule has been tough and everyone I talk to in the stands tells me the kids are having fun, staying focused, and that they know the wins will come, especially now that this brutal early road schedule is behind them.
The encouraging thing about tonight's game was that the Big Red stayed with the Governors pretty much the entire game. The lead briefly reached double digits early in the fourth quarter, but Riverheads rallied back to cut it to six and even had a three-pointer rim out that would have cut it to three. So just a lucky bounce or two here and there and it could have been a different game.
Coach Coffey is no doubt pleased with the balance he received tonight, as all five starters contributed and scored between 6 and 8 points. So maybe soon that can become 10-12 points per man per outing......Just saying.
As for Nelson, they didn't display the degree of athleticism they had in the first game at Riverheads (a 61-53 overtime win) and if it were not for some offensive highlights from Anthony Lee, the sparse Nelson crowd might not have had much to cheer about. It was overall a very quiet game tonight for some reason and neither team seemed to show any interest in ramping up the pace.
In the JV game, the Gladiators had a 4-point halftime lead before Grant Painter opened the third quarter with a personal eight-point spurt that gave the Big Red a double digit lead. He later added six free throws down the stretch to preserve a 39-30 win. The Gladiators are now 4-2 on the season but are at least temporarily without the services of talented eighth-grader Braeson Fulton. He seemed to tweak an ankle last night in the final few seconds at Page and was not at the game tonight. So it remains to be seen what the deal is there and how long he may be out of commission.
As I had mentioned in other threads, the Gladiators are now finished with the worst part of their schedule. To open with four out of six on the road against the likes of East Rock, Page and Luray was asking a lot of such a small, young team. But that stretch is behind them now, and if they can play as well as they did in this series against Nelson, there will be some wins coming right around the corner. Next up is a Friday home date with Wilson, followed by a Monday road trip to Stonewall.
