The Gladiators unveiled their new beefed up line-up tonight in Sperryville and they almost got the job done as they fell to the homestanding Panthers 54-52. That mind you is the "official" final score, although just about any Gladiator fan who was paying attention is pretty doggone sure that Rapp Co was given a point they did not score. So some of us might prefer to think it was really a 53-52 game, for what that is worth.
The confusion came late in the third quarter. Rapp Co was leading 40-37 when a Riverheads player was fouled. He went to the line and made the first shot, which should have made it 40-38, but the scoreboard read 41-37, meaning the point had been given to Rapp Co by mistake. Several of us picked up on it right away and assumed it would be corrected but it never was. The second foul shot was missed and in the ensuing action, RHS hit a bucket, which should have made it 40-40. The Gladiators did eventually get proper credit for both the foul shot and follow-up bucket, but the phantom point on the home side was never taken off and the game was nip and tuck until the very end.
In fact, down the stretch the Gladiators had their chances to steal the big road win. With Rapp Co ahead 49-47 and looking a little rattled, RHS' Henley Dunlap buried a corner triple to put the visitors up 50-49 for their first second half lead. Moments later, Brody Phillips, one of the new football player acquisitions, scored on a stickback to give Riverheads a three point advantage. But Rapp Co then scored the final five points to take the narrow victory.
Riverheads did have the ball in its offensive end for about the last 25 seconds but just could pull a repeat of last year's win at Fort Defiance, when they stole one at the buzzer. So as they say, a loss is a loss but this was by far the Big Red's best overall effort of the season, and the luxury of having more players most likely allowed them to feel a little more comfortable out there.
Actually for the benefit of RHS fans reading this, only two football players have joined the team on the varsity level. Two others were elevated from JV to varsity status and then four new JVs have joined that team. So home fans, come on out tomorrow (Friday night) to see these revised line-ups for yourself when the Gladiators host Central, or you can make plans to attend our Holiday Tournament on the 28th-29th, with Liberty Bedford, Mountain View, and Buffalo Gap all taking part.
In the early stages of tonight's game, it looked like we could be in for a home team blow out. Rapp Co led 21-14 after one, and stretched that out to a 12 point lead in the second quarter. But the Gladiators started their comeback before the halftime horn, and in fact it momentarily appeared that JP Crawford had tied the score at 33 when he connected on a three-quarter court heave that banked into the goal. But the officials ruled (probably accurately) that the ball had hit the top of the backboard before dropping in.
The second half, as already described, was basically one continuous rally as Riverheads played hard to catch up with its new roster that has six sophomores, four juniors and no seniors, whereas RappCo is a senior-dominated team. One of those, Andrew Deal, had put on a three-point clinic in the earlier meeting at Riverheads, but he was nowhere near as effective tonight, which may have also contributed to the Big Red staying in the game.
To give some props where they are clearly due, the most entertaining Panther in the building tonight was a lady who sat in the corner filming the game and energetically leading her own cheers and trying to get the home folks fired up. Then as the varsity game started, she was introduced to us all as Miss Gail, and she sang the national anthem. So if she is not their number one fan and multi-tasker, she must be pretty close!
Dunlap led the Gladiator scoring tonight with 15, followed by 14 from Crawford. Also having his best game of the season was junior Grady Campbell, who finished with 10, including two triples. Those three guys combined for seven treys tonight for the Big Red.
In the JV game, the Panthers only led by three at the break but came out of the locker room smoking and pulled away to a 55-45 win, which avenged an earlier loss at the Riverheads Tip Off Tournament. There was also some curiosity about the scoring in tonight's JV game although it was not close enough to cause any huge concern.
It involved one of the four new football recruits, a constantly-hustling ball of fire named Gabe Miller. He came alive tonight and showed off a three point range that no one remembered him having. When he knocked down what appeared to be his sixth triple of the evening in the final seconds, the scoreboard actually registered 55-46 for a bit, but soon it was set back to 55-45. So we can only assume that the bucket was ruled a two pointer.
So not a successful road trip, but still a very positive step forward and both Big Red teams showed signs that the increased numbers will help quite a bit, with district play right around the corner. After tomorrow's home game against Central, the Gladiators will travel to Stuarts Draft Tuesday and will then be off until the aforementioned tournament.
The confusion came late in the third quarter. Rapp Co was leading 40-37 when a Riverheads player was fouled. He went to the line and made the first shot, which should have made it 40-38, but the scoreboard read 41-37, meaning the point had been given to Rapp Co by mistake. Several of us picked up on it right away and assumed it would be corrected but it never was. The second foul shot was missed and in the ensuing action, RHS hit a bucket, which should have made it 40-40. The Gladiators did eventually get proper credit for both the foul shot and follow-up bucket, but the phantom point on the home side was never taken off and the game was nip and tuck until the very end.
In fact, down the stretch the Gladiators had their chances to steal the big road win. With Rapp Co ahead 49-47 and looking a little rattled, RHS' Henley Dunlap buried a corner triple to put the visitors up 50-49 for their first second half lead. Moments later, Brody Phillips, one of the new football player acquisitions, scored on a stickback to give Riverheads a three point advantage. But Rapp Co then scored the final five points to take the narrow victory.
Riverheads did have the ball in its offensive end for about the last 25 seconds but just could pull a repeat of last year's win at Fort Defiance, when they stole one at the buzzer. So as they say, a loss is a loss but this was by far the Big Red's best overall effort of the season, and the luxury of having more players most likely allowed them to feel a little more comfortable out there.
Actually for the benefit of RHS fans reading this, only two football players have joined the team on the varsity level. Two others were elevated from JV to varsity status and then four new JVs have joined that team. So home fans, come on out tomorrow (Friday night) to see these revised line-ups for yourself when the Gladiators host Central, or you can make plans to attend our Holiday Tournament on the 28th-29th, with Liberty Bedford, Mountain View, and Buffalo Gap all taking part.
In the early stages of tonight's game, it looked like we could be in for a home team blow out. Rapp Co led 21-14 after one, and stretched that out to a 12 point lead in the second quarter. But the Gladiators started their comeback before the halftime horn, and in fact it momentarily appeared that JP Crawford had tied the score at 33 when he connected on a three-quarter court heave that banked into the goal. But the officials ruled (probably accurately) that the ball had hit the top of the backboard before dropping in.
The second half, as already described, was basically one continuous rally as Riverheads played hard to catch up with its new roster that has six sophomores, four juniors and no seniors, whereas RappCo is a senior-dominated team. One of those, Andrew Deal, had put on a three-point clinic in the earlier meeting at Riverheads, but he was nowhere near as effective tonight, which may have also contributed to the Big Red staying in the game.
To give some props where they are clearly due, the most entertaining Panther in the building tonight was a lady who sat in the corner filming the game and energetically leading her own cheers and trying to get the home folks fired up. Then as the varsity game started, she was introduced to us all as Miss Gail, and she sang the national anthem. So if she is not their number one fan and multi-tasker, she must be pretty close!
Dunlap led the Gladiator scoring tonight with 15, followed by 14 from Crawford. Also having his best game of the season was junior Grady Campbell, who finished with 10, including two triples. Those three guys combined for seven treys tonight for the Big Red.
In the JV game, the Panthers only led by three at the break but came out of the locker room smoking and pulled away to a 55-45 win, which avenged an earlier loss at the Riverheads Tip Off Tournament. There was also some curiosity about the scoring in tonight's JV game although it was not close enough to cause any huge concern.
It involved one of the four new football recruits, a constantly-hustling ball of fire named Gabe Miller. He came alive tonight and showed off a three point range that no one remembered him having. When he knocked down what appeared to be his sixth triple of the evening in the final seconds, the scoreboard actually registered 55-46 for a bit, but soon it was set back to 55-45. So we can only assume that the bucket was ruled a two pointer.
So not a successful road trip, but still a very positive step forward and both Big Red teams showed signs that the increased numbers will help quite a bit, with district play right around the corner. After tomorrow's home game against Central, the Gladiators will travel to Stuarts Draft Tuesday and will then be off until the aforementioned tournament.
