Riverheads 52, Robert E. Lee 51 FINAL
- Thread starter jhwright
- Start date
Your wish is my command or in this case...my pleasure! This one was most definitely a donnybrook that came down to one final shot and for the moment I will keep you in suspenders as to whether that shot went in.
The first quarter started off at a brisk pace and featured each team's Painter (Grant for Riverheads and Ethan for Lee) showing off their artistry (get it? Painters? Artistry? OK, so much for tonight's humor!) from behind the three-point line as each one canned two in the opening quarter. Lee had the early advantage and enjoyed its largest lead of the night at 15-9 before a fast break lay-up by Josh Kinzel beat the first quarter horn and trimmed the lead to 15-13.
The second quarter was a frustrating one for both teams as they each missed numerous point blank shots and just could not re-establish that first quarter rhythm. The two three-point marksmen each failed to connect in the second and the teams went to the locker room tied at 23 after a low-scoring quarter.
Lee scored first to open the second half and although we certainly had no idea at the time, that 25-23 advantage would be their last lead of the game, because Riverheads went on an 11-0 run that featured points from some unsung heroes. Good time to mention by the way that the Gladiators were understaffed tonight with Drew Bond nursing an ankle injury and unable to play, so the Leemen dressed out 14 to Riverheads' 9.
So with others expected to play stronger roles, Zack Adams was the first to step to the plate as he drove the lane to tie the score and then gave RHS the lead for good with his first triple of the season, a shot that touched every bit of the rim before it dropped in. Seconds later, the Big Red got another trey from a most surprising source, our wide-body inside enforcer Deacon Moore. He likes to fire them up occasionally and I "might" recall him making one in the past, but the bank was open for him in this case, and he drilled it for a 31-25 lead.
Grant Painter then stroked his third one of the night and in what seemed like a matter of just a minute or two the Gladiators had rallied from a two-point deficit to their largest lead of the night at 34-25. Lee recovered however and trimmed the lead to 39-35 by the end of the period, setting the stage for a frantic fourth quarter.
First the visitors cut their deficit to just one at 41-40 and seemed to have the momentum back on their side. But another Painter triple made it 44-40 and somewhere along those same lines, point guard Elijah Dunlap became the fourth Big Red player to connect from the promised land. Midway through the quarter the RHS lead was 50-42 and the home fans could sense it. But the proud Leemen made one final surge and almost pulled out the win.
Riverheads helped them along with some missed charity tosses and with just under three minutes left, Painter picked up his fifth foul, which really made things look promising for Lee. He left the game with a team high and his personal season-high of 24, including six triples. He holds the school record, by the way, for eight in a game.
Lee scored seven in a row to trim that eight point lead down to a single digit at 50-49 and another Riverheads miss at the foul line gave them a chance to take the lead. But Riverheads held and Adam Painter (sophomore brother of the junior Grant) calmly sank a pair of charity tosses for the final Gladiator points of the night.
Then in the waning seconds of the game came a play that could have turned the game in Lee's favor but if we saw what most Riverheads fans (and most certainly the coaches) "think" they saw, then it would have been a travesty if Lee had managed to win. The Leemen were at the foul line, trailing 52-49 with maybe 30 seconds or so left.
The guy hit the first shot and while waiting for the second one, it appeared that a Lee player in rebounding position simply pushed Riverheads' Honor Robinson out of his inside spot, causing him to be called for a lane violation. Despite howls of protest from the home side of the gym and of course the Gladiator bench, the call stood and the shooter connected on the final free throw.
Riverheads then missed from the charity stripe on its next possession and the Leemen had 18 seconds left to pull out the comeback win. They called timeout with 12 seconds left, but seemed a little disorganized as the ball was still out near halfcourt at the five second mark. They somehow managed to get a shot off from about 8 feet just to the right of the lane but it hit the rim short, as many others had for both teams tonight, and the Gladiators had their most improbable first-ever win over Lee.
Needless to say this was Riverheads' best game of the season, even though they have posted 25 and 15 point wins over Stonewall and Luray. But considering the Lee tradition, this one was BIG, the kind of big that can sometimes define your season. The Gladiators now have a week off before traveling to pesky Parry McCluer next Friday night. The Leemen meanwhile have that big showdown with East Rock in Staunton in about 19 hours from now, although I suspect this game tonight takes a little bit of the luster off that one.
Believe it or not, and those of us in the stands had trouble believing it, the Gladiators actually pulled off the clean sweep tonight as their JVs steamrolled past the Leemen 39-23. Just like we would ultimately see in the varsity game, that one was also a case of unsung heroes stepping up and a big scoring run blowing the game open.
Lee had taken an 11-8 lead early in the second quarter. A Bennett Dunlap triple tied the score at 11, setting off an amazing 19-0 scoring binge by Riverheads that stretched well into the third quarter before Lee could score again. Noah Williams had a couple of nice stickbacks to close out the first half and stake RHS to a 17-11 lead, and then Ryan Farris, who had been quiet to that point, opened the third quarter with a personal eight-point spree that featured two triples. The lead ballooned to 27-11 before Lee could score and the Gladiators coasted to their third win of the season against only one loss.
So as they say down in Greenville, it was a good night to be a Gladiator! They have earned that week's rest.
The first quarter started off at a brisk pace and featured each team's Painter (Grant for Riverheads and Ethan for Lee) showing off their artistry (get it? Painters? Artistry? OK, so much for tonight's humor!) from behind the three-point line as each one canned two in the opening quarter. Lee had the early advantage and enjoyed its largest lead of the night at 15-9 before a fast break lay-up by Josh Kinzel beat the first quarter horn and trimmed the lead to 15-13.
The second quarter was a frustrating one for both teams as they each missed numerous point blank shots and just could not re-establish that first quarter rhythm. The two three-point marksmen each failed to connect in the second and the teams went to the locker room tied at 23 after a low-scoring quarter.
Lee scored first to open the second half and although we certainly had no idea at the time, that 25-23 advantage would be their last lead of the game, because Riverheads went on an 11-0 run that featured points from some unsung heroes. Good time to mention by the way that the Gladiators were understaffed tonight with Drew Bond nursing an ankle injury and unable to play, so the Leemen dressed out 14 to Riverheads' 9.
So with others expected to play stronger roles, Zack Adams was the first to step to the plate as he drove the lane to tie the score and then gave RHS the lead for good with his first triple of the season, a shot that touched every bit of the rim before it dropped in. Seconds later, the Big Red got another trey from a most surprising source, our wide-body inside enforcer Deacon Moore. He likes to fire them up occasionally and I "might" recall him making one in the past, but the bank was open for him in this case, and he drilled it for a 31-25 lead.
Grant Painter then stroked his third one of the night and in what seemed like a matter of just a minute or two the Gladiators had rallied from a two-point deficit to their largest lead of the night at 34-25. Lee recovered however and trimmed the lead to 39-35 by the end of the period, setting the stage for a frantic fourth quarter.
First the visitors cut their deficit to just one at 41-40 and seemed to have the momentum back on their side. But another Painter triple made it 44-40 and somewhere along those same lines, point guard Elijah Dunlap became the fourth Big Red player to connect from the promised land. Midway through the quarter the RHS lead was 50-42 and the home fans could sense it. But the proud Leemen made one final surge and almost pulled out the win.
Riverheads helped them along with some missed charity tosses and with just under three minutes left, Painter picked up his fifth foul, which really made things look promising for Lee. He left the game with a team high and his personal season-high of 24, including six triples. He holds the school record, by the way, for eight in a game.
Lee scored seven in a row to trim that eight point lead down to a single digit at 50-49 and another Riverheads miss at the foul line gave them a chance to take the lead. But Riverheads held and Adam Painter (sophomore brother of the junior Grant) calmly sank a pair of charity tosses for the final Gladiator points of the night.
Then in the waning seconds of the game came a play that could have turned the game in Lee's favor but if we saw what most Riverheads fans (and most certainly the coaches) "think" they saw, then it would have been a travesty if Lee had managed to win. The Leemen were at the foul line, trailing 52-49 with maybe 30 seconds or so left.
The guy hit the first shot and while waiting for the second one, it appeared that a Lee player in rebounding position simply pushed Riverheads' Honor Robinson out of his inside spot, causing him to be called for a lane violation. Despite howls of protest from the home side of the gym and of course the Gladiator bench, the call stood and the shooter connected on the final free throw.
Riverheads then missed from the charity stripe on its next possession and the Leemen had 18 seconds left to pull out the comeback win. They called timeout with 12 seconds left, but seemed a little disorganized as the ball was still out near halfcourt at the five second mark. They somehow managed to get a shot off from about 8 feet just to the right of the lane but it hit the rim short, as many others had for both teams tonight, and the Gladiators had their most improbable first-ever win over Lee.
Needless to say this was Riverheads' best game of the season, even though they have posted 25 and 15 point wins over Stonewall and Luray. But considering the Lee tradition, this one was BIG, the kind of big that can sometimes define your season. The Gladiators now have a week off before traveling to pesky Parry McCluer next Friday night. The Leemen meanwhile have that big showdown with East Rock in Staunton in about 19 hours from now, although I suspect this game tonight takes a little bit of the luster off that one.
Believe it or not, and those of us in the stands had trouble believing it, the Gladiators actually pulled off the clean sweep tonight as their JVs steamrolled past the Leemen 39-23. Just like we would ultimately see in the varsity game, that one was also a case of unsung heroes stepping up and a big scoring run blowing the game open.
Lee had taken an 11-8 lead early in the second quarter. A Bennett Dunlap triple tied the score at 11, setting off an amazing 19-0 scoring binge by Riverheads that stretched well into the third quarter before Lee could score again. Noah Williams had a couple of nice stickbacks to close out the first half and stake RHS to a 17-11 lead, and then Ryan Farris, who had been quiet to that point, opened the third quarter with a personal eight-point spree that featured two triples. The lead ballooned to 27-11 before Lee could score and the Gladiators coasted to their third win of the season against only one loss.
So as they say down in Greenville, it was a good night to be a Gladiator! They have earned that week's rest.
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Leemen let's talk playoffs
Don't worry .. Riverheads will be down a division come playoff time
Merry Christmas
Don't worry .. Riverheads will be down a division come playoff timeMerry Christmas
