You could almost tell from the opening tip tonight that the Blues were still seething over their loss at Riverheads last Thursday and were determined to exact their revenge. They opened the game with a quick 9-0 spurt and got the crowd revved up, and although Riverheads had its chances to get back in the game, it was pretty much an All-Blues night as they won 59-44.
Once again it was the Hamilton/Mitchell show as each had several highlight reel plays, including a classic alley-oop that nearly tore the roof off the building. That occurred late in the first half and as the game progressed, things got more and more intense in the gym as both the PM fans and team seemed determine to see if Riverheads really bleeds red.
To be quite frank, the officials had trouble maintaining control of this one, and when that happens, both sides feel as if they are not getting the calls they deserve. To give a few examples, PM fans were calling on more than one occasion for intentional fouls to be called on the Gladiators and Big Red fans were incensed late in the game when they were positive that the officials missed a goal-tending violation against Hamilton. Things got so rowdy at one point that a trio of Buena Vista's finest made sure that everyone knew they were in attendance.
Speaking of the Blues 6'11" center, although he did play 200% better than he had at Riverheads on Thursday, he did ironically give the Gladiators their best opportunity to get back in the game. Midway through the third quarter, with PM leading by about 8-10, he was called for a foul and then hit with a technical for protesting the call. Those were his second and third fouls which sent him to the bench for a while.
Instead of the Gladiators being able to use that turn of events to their advantage, Mitchell instinctively took over and made a few athletic moves to build the PM lead back up. I did not hear any scores for PM, but I would not be surprised if he led the scoring tonight instead of Hamilton. The Blues also got more out of their supporting cast tonight, as Snider and one or two others had better games than they had at RHS.
Leading the Big Red scoring was Bennett Dunlap with 14, over half of which were scored in the final three minutes of the game. Levi Byer (AKA "Stretch") who is a full foot shorter than Hamilton but certainly did not back down from him, added 9 to the Gladiator cause, and as a pleasant surprise, junior guard Carter Mooneyham had an all-around good game and finished with 7 points. The Gladiators have four players averaging in double figures so far this young season, so on nights when he or someone else can add to that production, it makes the Big Red that much more balanced.
To summarize, the Blues evened the score and got the point across that they are indeed the state champs until dethroned, and they did it on pure intensity and adrenaline. It was one of those games where you just left the gym feeling glad that no one got hurt. For the Big Red, the best thing they can do is put this one in the rear view mirror and focus on their first Shenandoah District game, which will be Thursday when they travel to Fort Defiance.
All was not lost for Riverheads fans tonight as the JV boys remained unbeaten with a 46-30 victory over the Baby Blues. Patrick Buchanan verified that the bank was open in BV on a Tuesday night as he canned a three off the window to open the scoring and the Junior G'men led wire-to-wire, knocking down another handful of triples along the way.
While the two boys teams were involved in these hard-fought battles, the Lady Gladiators were home tonight to East Rockingham. As of this midnight report, I have not heard or read anything about how that turned out, but hopefully it was good news for them as they will open their Shenandoah season at home Thursday against the Lady Indians.
Once again it was the Hamilton/Mitchell show as each had several highlight reel plays, including a classic alley-oop that nearly tore the roof off the building. That occurred late in the first half and as the game progressed, things got more and more intense in the gym as both the PM fans and team seemed determine to see if Riverheads really bleeds red.
To be quite frank, the officials had trouble maintaining control of this one, and when that happens, both sides feel as if they are not getting the calls they deserve. To give a few examples, PM fans were calling on more than one occasion for intentional fouls to be called on the Gladiators and Big Red fans were incensed late in the game when they were positive that the officials missed a goal-tending violation against Hamilton. Things got so rowdy at one point that a trio of Buena Vista's finest made sure that everyone knew they were in attendance.
Speaking of the Blues 6'11" center, although he did play 200% better than he had at Riverheads on Thursday, he did ironically give the Gladiators their best opportunity to get back in the game. Midway through the third quarter, with PM leading by about 8-10, he was called for a foul and then hit with a technical for protesting the call. Those were his second and third fouls which sent him to the bench for a while.
Instead of the Gladiators being able to use that turn of events to their advantage, Mitchell instinctively took over and made a few athletic moves to build the PM lead back up. I did not hear any scores for PM, but I would not be surprised if he led the scoring tonight instead of Hamilton. The Blues also got more out of their supporting cast tonight, as Snider and one or two others had better games than they had at RHS.
Leading the Big Red scoring was Bennett Dunlap with 14, over half of which were scored in the final three minutes of the game. Levi Byer (AKA "Stretch") who is a full foot shorter than Hamilton but certainly did not back down from him, added 9 to the Gladiator cause, and as a pleasant surprise, junior guard Carter Mooneyham had an all-around good game and finished with 7 points. The Gladiators have four players averaging in double figures so far this young season, so on nights when he or someone else can add to that production, it makes the Big Red that much more balanced.
To summarize, the Blues evened the score and got the point across that they are indeed the state champs until dethroned, and they did it on pure intensity and adrenaline. It was one of those games where you just left the gym feeling glad that no one got hurt. For the Big Red, the best thing they can do is put this one in the rear view mirror and focus on their first Shenandoah District game, which will be Thursday when they travel to Fort Defiance.
All was not lost for Riverheads fans tonight as the JV boys remained unbeaten with a 46-30 victory over the Baby Blues. Patrick Buchanan verified that the bank was open in BV on a Tuesday night as he canned a three off the window to open the scoring and the Junior G'men led wire-to-wire, knocking down another handful of triples along the way.
While the two boys teams were involved in these hard-fought battles, the Lady Gladiators were home tonight to East Rockingham. As of this midnight report, I have not heard or read anything about how that turned out, but hopefully it was good news for them as they will open their Shenandoah season at home Thursday against the Lady Indians.
