Gladiators will host Region 1B Championship on Saturday at 4:00 PM vs. Sussex Central.
Last edited:
Riverheads 63, Carver Academy 42 -Final
- Thread starter jhwright
- Start date
Last we heard Cumberland was leading 41-40 after the third.
The Gladiators recovered from a shaky start but then turned to one hero after another, mainly their battle-tested seniors, as they rallied past the Wolverines in what was arguably their most complete game of the season. As reported already, they will now face Sussex on Saturday for the Region B title and of course will advance to the state tournament next week. Multiple sources have that Sussex game moved up to 4:00 and if you are a Duke or UVa fan, you are quite happy to hear that.
Things did not get off to a perfect start for the home team tonight as the Wolvs' Darius Johnson, who had led them with 24 points in Tuesday's romp over Rappahannock County, picked up where he left off and dropped in a pair of triples as the visitors took a very quick 10-3 lead. However, the senior sharpshooter may have ultimately learned a lesson in humility as he punctuated each of those bombs with a gesture or comment to the RHS bench that might have been considered less than perfect sportsmanship. Those displays ultimately came back to haunt him as the Big Red defense stopped him cold the entire second half and held him to a total of only 12 points, all scored in the first half.
Once the Gladiators recovered from that early Carver surge, it was pretty much all Riverheads. The Painter brothers, Grant and Adam, warmed up from behind the arc themselves and dropped in five of them as RHS took the lead for good at 21-19, soon stretching it to 27-21. The halftime lead of 29-26 might have been even greater if not for the fact that three more Gladiator treys, all from different players, went halfway down into the cylinder and popped back out, not to mention that Carver's Aaron Wilson connected on a desperation 30-footer at the horn.
Carver then scored the first bucket of the second half to make it 29-28, but an avalanche was about to hit the visitors. The Gladiators blitzed them with a 23-5 run over the rest of the quarter, and this time the man of the hour (or at least the third quarter) was our very own future dentist "Doctor" Elijah Dunlap. The senior point guard had only scored four points in the first half and even those came from the charity stripe.
But whether or not it was by design, he went on a personal eight-point tear which included an impossible, hand-in-the face triple from the deep left corner and moments later, he flossed the nets with another one from the left wing. By the time he was finished drilling, the lead had ballooned to 41-28, and the Gladiators poured it on even more, leading 52-33 after three quarters.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Big Red turned to yet another of its senior leaders, the birthday boy himself Deacon Moore. For those of you who don't know the Gladiator roster, Deacon is what you would call a wide body. He is generously listed as 5'11" and stocky but he moves extremely well for that size. He had been pressed into the role of "big man" for the Gladiators late in the season and on this night, he had done an admirable job on the boards, as had the entire team.
But down the stretch, with a little help from his friends, he became a scorer as well and popped in seven quick points. The first two came courtesy of a spectacular tipped pass assist from Adam Painter, and shortly after that, he drove down the lane for his second bucket. Then, all within about a three minute period, he was left all alone out on the right wing by a lethargic Wolverine defense, and had time enough to text his girlfriend to say "watch this" before he drained the Big Red's eighth three-pointer of the evening.
Then as if the rowdy student section had not had enough thrills from their heroes, they got one more in the final minute of the game. Just like they had done the night before in the girls game, the fans started chanting for their favorite, Steven Sorrells, to be brought into the game. Once again the coach gave them what they wanted and just like the young lady had done the night before, this time the junior back-up center scored to delight the crowd as he flawlessly dropped in a pair of free throws.
By this time, Carver was mentally exhausted, Johnson had been brought under control by the Big Red defense, and the fans were more interested in updates from the Sussex game. So the rubber match with the Wolverines (cool name for a Virginia team by the way) is now in the books and we will turn our attention toward Saturday's first-ever basketball match-up with the Tigers, although we have gotten to know them quite well on the football field over the years. Although both teams have now earned state tournament berths, the winner Saturday will get to host a state quarter-final game as opposed to traveling down to Region A territory. Coach Coffey has made it perfectly clear that a Big Red team goal this season was to avoid that trip, so hopefully the Gladiators can do just that.
Things did not get off to a perfect start for the home team tonight as the Wolvs' Darius Johnson, who had led them with 24 points in Tuesday's romp over Rappahannock County, picked up where he left off and dropped in a pair of triples as the visitors took a very quick 10-3 lead. However, the senior sharpshooter may have ultimately learned a lesson in humility as he punctuated each of those bombs with a gesture or comment to the RHS bench that might have been considered less than perfect sportsmanship. Those displays ultimately came back to haunt him as the Big Red defense stopped him cold the entire second half and held him to a total of only 12 points, all scored in the first half.
Once the Gladiators recovered from that early Carver surge, it was pretty much all Riverheads. The Painter brothers, Grant and Adam, warmed up from behind the arc themselves and dropped in five of them as RHS took the lead for good at 21-19, soon stretching it to 27-21. The halftime lead of 29-26 might have been even greater if not for the fact that three more Gladiator treys, all from different players, went halfway down into the cylinder and popped back out, not to mention that Carver's Aaron Wilson connected on a desperation 30-footer at the horn.
Carver then scored the first bucket of the second half to make it 29-28, but an avalanche was about to hit the visitors. The Gladiators blitzed them with a 23-5 run over the rest of the quarter, and this time the man of the hour (or at least the third quarter) was our very own future dentist "Doctor" Elijah Dunlap. The senior point guard had only scored four points in the first half and even those came from the charity stripe.
But whether or not it was by design, he went on a personal eight-point tear which included an impossible, hand-in-the face triple from the deep left corner and moments later, he flossed the nets with another one from the left wing. By the time he was finished drilling, the lead had ballooned to 41-28, and the Gladiators poured it on even more, leading 52-33 after three quarters.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Big Red turned to yet another of its senior leaders, the birthday boy himself Deacon Moore. For those of you who don't know the Gladiator roster, Deacon is what you would call a wide body. He is generously listed as 5'11" and stocky but he moves extremely well for that size. He had been pressed into the role of "big man" for the Gladiators late in the season and on this night, he had done an admirable job on the boards, as had the entire team.
But down the stretch, with a little help from his friends, he became a scorer as well and popped in seven quick points. The first two came courtesy of a spectacular tipped pass assist from Adam Painter, and shortly after that, he drove down the lane for his second bucket. Then, all within about a three minute period, he was left all alone out on the right wing by a lethargic Wolverine defense, and had time enough to text his girlfriend to say "watch this" before he drained the Big Red's eighth three-pointer of the evening.
Then as if the rowdy student section had not had enough thrills from their heroes, they got one more in the final minute of the game. Just like they had done the night before in the girls game, the fans started chanting for their favorite, Steven Sorrells, to be brought into the game. Once again the coach gave them what they wanted and just like the young lady had done the night before, this time the junior back-up center scored to delight the crowd as he flawlessly dropped in a pair of free throws.
By this time, Carver was mentally exhausted, Johnson had been brought under control by the Big Red defense, and the fans were more interested in updates from the Sussex game. So the rubber match with the Wolverines (cool name for a Virginia team by the way) is now in the books and we will turn our attention toward Saturday's first-ever basketball match-up with the Tigers, although we have gotten to know them quite well on the football field over the years. Although both teams have now earned state tournament berths, the winner Saturday will get to host a state quarter-final game as opposed to traveling down to Region A territory. Coach Coffey has made it perfectly clear that a Big Red team goal this season was to avoid that trip, so hopefully the Gladiators can do just that.
Similar threads
