Patience was the story tonight as the Big Red opened the game by controlling the tip and then taking a full minute to look for the right shot before Grant Painter drilled a three to open the scoring. The Gladiators never looked back as they quickly moved to a 10-2 lead. Stonewall rallied briefly, in fact about the only rally they had all night, to close to within 12-7 by the end of the quarter.
Riverheads then took full control of the game with a 15-4 second quarter. Stonewall scored early in the period but then went cold for a long while, allowing the Big Red to pad the margin to 27-11 at the break.
Any hopes the home fans may have had for a comeback were quickly dashed when RHS came out of the locker room and kept attacking. When Brett Hostetler drained a triple from the deep right corner, the Gladiators had their biggest lead of the night at 37-13, and Stonewall never got closer than 16 after that.
The key to the win was composure on the part of the Big Red. They were never in a hurry, always willing to move the ball around and look for the best possible shot, although they took the fast break when it was offered. They shot well from three-point range, with 5 connections, but I doubt if they tried more than 10-12, so their shot selection was another strength of the game. Also the paper has reported that they went 10 for 10 from the foul line in the second half.
On defense, they kept Stonewall out of the lane and if the Generals hit more than two threes I don't remember them. In fact, this overall performance from Stonewall did not even remotely come close to either of the regular season games in which they seemed much more energized and efficient than they did tonight. Likewise their fan support tonight was minimal for such an important game by an up and coming team. Maybe the Gladiator defense kept them from getting in to the game but whatever it was, it was mighty quiet in the home stands, except for the annoying high-pitched shrieks that a few girls insisted on delivering in the first half whenever RHS went to the foul line. They either figured out for themselves how immature and unsportsmanlike they were being, or else an administrator calmed them down, because it was not that much of a factor in the second half.
In the final minute, the game did have a humorous occurrence that took a moment to sort itself out. The Gladiators were leading 59-39 when Coach Coffey made a mass substitution, which included the insertion of three JV players brought up for the game to experience their first-ever varsity action. Sophomore Josh Kinzel decided to get the earliest possible start on his varsity career by draining a perfect triple from the right corner within five seconds after taking the floor.
Only problem was he shot at the wrong basket. Generally when that happens, the bucket has to count, which would not have mattered in this case. But once the officials got together and discussed the situation, they realized that they were the ones who had made the first mistake by giving the ball to Riverheads in the first place, when it should have been Stonewall's. So they hit replay and Stonewall added one final hoop to account for the final margin.
The Gladiators were led, as they have been often this season, by the freshmen duo of Painter and Braeson Fulton, who each tallied 14 tonight. Hostetler added 10, and yet another freshman, Elijah Dunlap, hit two of the Gladiators' five treys on the night to account for six points. All nine of the regular varsity squad that dressed out scored in the game.
As JH Wright pointed out, the win sends the Big Red to Altavista Thursday night but also clinches a regional berth for next week. Not too shabby for such a young team!
