Riverheads 78 Wilson Memorial 56 nm

[kwhs95fan]

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[longtimerhsfan]

My Gladiators did exactly what I expected them to do tonight as they jumped out to an early lead against Wilson, and stepped on the throttle for a full four quarters to post a very satisfying victory. Of course all heck broke loose elsewhere in the district but we will get to that later.

The Big Red played by far its most complete game of the year as 78 was a season-high point total, all five starters scored in double figures, team leader Grant Painter had his highest game of the year with 28, and they had a productive night from behind the arc, as four of the five starters combined for nine triples.

In fact the three point line was the key to the big early lead as the Pride knocked down four of them in the first half of the first quarter as they barged to an early 18-5 lead. Wilson briefly rallied to close to within 18-10 but Adam Painter was fouled on a late three and canned all three shots to make it 21-10 after one.

The Gladiators broke it open with their biggest quarter of the night, as they scored 23 in the second quarter to take a 44-22 lead. The lead would have been 25 if not for a Wilson player throwing up a prayer from near half court that went in at the horn. Although Riverheads canned two more threes in that period, their inside threat Honor Robinson was the main weapon of the quarter as he finished with 13 for the first two quarters.

The only thing that was not going especially well for the Gladiators, at least in the first half, was the foul situation. At one point the team fouls were 7-1 and by the halftime horn, two RHS players had picked up three apiece and three others had two, a little bit dicey for a team that carries only 10 players. Fortunately they were shooting the lights out which was a nice compensation.

Zach Adams opened the third quarter with his third triple of the night and the lead was back to 25 at 47-22. The Gladiators went on to outscore the Hornets 21-17 in the quarter to lead by 26 heading into the fourth. Ironically the foul situation turned around in the second half and unless I missed it, none of the Gladiators ever fouled out, although at least two Hornets did as they hacked frequently down the stretch trying to catch up. The closest they got in the fourth was 18 before Riverheads put it away.

I see that my scoring totals do not match those of the one local paper article I have read but that happens on occasion. For what it is worth, I had Grant Painter with 28, Adams and Robinson with 13 each, Elijah Dunlap with 12, and Adam Painter with 10. The only non-starter to score for RHS tonight was reserve guard Ryan Farris, who canned a pair of free throws late in the game.

With this victory and Fort Defiance's shocking overtime win in Staunton, there is now a three-way tie for fourth (at 2-4 in league play) between Wilson, Fort and Riverheads; with Staunton and Buffalo Gap each now 3-3. That leaves Stuarts Draft sitting all alone at the top at 6-0 after their tight seven-point win over Buffalo Gap tonight.

Tuesday night's slate of games should be quite interesting with Wilson traveling to Stuarts Draft, Buffalo Gap and Staunton meeting in the Paul Hatcher Gym with the winner taking over sole possession of second place, and Riverheads visiting the suddenly resurgent Indians to find out what that uprising is all about. The Indians have now won three in a row and will likely make it four when they host Turner Ashby on Monday before the Gladiators pay their visit.

Tonight's JV game was an interesting affair in which the lead only changed hands twice all night, but that second one was a doozy. Wilson scored the first basket of the night, before RHS scored 7 points in a row to take control of the game. They led 20-9 after one and stretched the lead to 34-20 at the break.

But Wilson came to life in the second half and steadily fought their way back into the game, mainly on some hot three-point shooting. Riverheads still led by 8 at the end of the third and it looked as if they would hold off the rally, but Wilson kept charging.

Finally, the Hornets hit yet another bomb to tie the score at 50 with less than a minute to go. Then of course, wouldn't you know it, we had to have ourselves a little bit of controversy, which if you have been following my reports this season, you know that has been a recurring theme around here.

With the 50-50 tie and the clock ticking down, a Wilson player hit a shot that everyone in the gym assumed was a three. Riverheads then hustled down court and after a couple of attempts, scored on a stickback by Noah Williams. Most of us had been too busy following the game to notice that the scoreboard only read 52-52, whereas we had all assumed that Wilson had taken its first lead since 2-0 and was now ahead 53-52.

That led to a conference, although a brief one, and the official emphatically said that he had only ruled the Wilson basket to be a two. Therefore Riverheads had just scored to tie the game, leaving 24 seconds on the clock to decide the issue. Wilson then worked the ball around patiently and managed to get off a 10 footer in the lane to win 54-52. Riverheads had 3.7 seconds left to tie or win it but turned the ball over instead.

The game evened the series at 1-1 between the two teams because Riverheads won a similar game at the Hive when the Wilson comeback fell short that night. Tonight's loss had to be a little disconcerting for the Big Red considering that 5 different guys connected from behind the arc, including buzzer-beaters by Adan Slack and Bennett Dunlap. Nevertheless first-year coach Justin Brake gets constant hustle out of his young team, which has only one sophomore, meaning they have three more years to reach their full potential. They are a respectable 9-6 on the season, and should finish with a winning record.

In other news of interest that was circulating in the stands tonight, it seems that a number of schools are being impacted by flu-like illnesses. For example, Riverheads was supposed to travel to Bath County Monday night but that has now been moved to next Thursday to allow the Chargers more time to recuperate. Also Riverheads' own Lady Gladiators were down a few members tonight so their game at Wilson was postponed and tentatively will be played tomorrow night. Just when the ADs have had a nice break with very little snow and ice to contend with, that has to happen instead. Best wishes to one and all for a speedy recovery.