The Gladiators made it two celebrations in as many nights as they followed up Thursday's victory over Rockbridge with a very nice road win over Stonewall Jackson. They never trailed in this one although things briefly got dicey just before halftime.
There were two keys to the win, both of which had to please Coach Coffey very much. The first was the Gladiators' consistent defense as they created a number of transition opportunities with their quick hands, many of which they turned into easy lay-ups on the offensive end. Secondly there was the balanced scoring attack as they came within two points of having the starting five finish in double figures. Grant Painter led the way with 21, which included three shots from behind the arc; Braeson Fulton backed him up with a solid 15 point effort; Elijah Dunlap canned three triples on the way to an 11-point game; and Drew Bond and Bradley Roberts had especially good nights at the foul line and finished with 9 points each. Forrest Shuey added the remaining two points for the Big Red.
The game started out slowly and was tied at 2 after about three minutes. But all of a sudden the Gladiators applied the defensive pressure, especially in the persons of Fulton and Painter, and four quick lay-ups later, the visitors had a 10-2 lead. They continued to pour it on and the first quarter ended with what appeared to be a safe 23-7 advantage.
But just as hot as they had been in the first, the Gladiators were almost as cold in the second. They went without any points for the first five minutes or so, allowing Stonewall to go on an 11-0 spurt to close to within five at 23-18. Dunlap's first triple of the night stopped the bleeding temporarily, but Stonewall continued to surge and closed the gap to a single digit at 29-28 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Instead of the Generals capitalizing on that momentum, the Gladiators seized it right back, helped by five quick points to start the half by Bond. Painter also had some nice moves in the quarter as the Gladiators stretched the lead back out to double digits at 46-36.
Dunlap found a sweet spot in the left corner and dropped in his final two treys, and Roberts had a nice fourth quarter as the Big Red confidently and calmly held off any further threats. They eventually took their largest lead of the night at 17 before a late trey by the Generals accounted for the final points.
The Gladiators will now savor their modest two-game win streak and hope to make it three with a home date against Wilson on Tuesday. The Green Team took it on the chin big time tonight from R E Lee, so they will come into Greenville that night either mad as a h---- (fill in the blank) or perhaps feeling a little demoralized. Either way, they should get a solid challenge from a re-energized Big Red squad.
In tonight's JV game, Riverheads made it a clean sweep with a methodical 43-28 win over the Junior Generals. Sharpshooter Adam Painter hit a pair of early threes to give the Big Red a working margin, and they were able to sub freely throughout the game and hold on to their lead.
I have not looked for official scores, but word on the street was that the Lady Gladiators also took care of business at home, giving RHS a perfect 4-0 sweep over SJ tonight. Those are always nice but don't come along very often. For the Lady Gladiators varsity, it was their first district win of the year.
There were two keys to the win, both of which had to please Coach Coffey very much. The first was the Gladiators' consistent defense as they created a number of transition opportunities with their quick hands, many of which they turned into easy lay-ups on the offensive end. Secondly there was the balanced scoring attack as they came within two points of having the starting five finish in double figures. Grant Painter led the way with 21, which included three shots from behind the arc; Braeson Fulton backed him up with a solid 15 point effort; Elijah Dunlap canned three triples on the way to an 11-point game; and Drew Bond and Bradley Roberts had especially good nights at the foul line and finished with 9 points each. Forrest Shuey added the remaining two points for the Big Red.
The game started out slowly and was tied at 2 after about three minutes. But all of a sudden the Gladiators applied the defensive pressure, especially in the persons of Fulton and Painter, and four quick lay-ups later, the visitors had a 10-2 lead. They continued to pour it on and the first quarter ended with what appeared to be a safe 23-7 advantage.
But just as hot as they had been in the first, the Gladiators were almost as cold in the second. They went without any points for the first five minutes or so, allowing Stonewall to go on an 11-0 spurt to close to within five at 23-18. Dunlap's first triple of the night stopped the bleeding temporarily, but Stonewall continued to surge and closed the gap to a single digit at 29-28 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Instead of the Generals capitalizing on that momentum, the Gladiators seized it right back, helped by five quick points to start the half by Bond. Painter also had some nice moves in the quarter as the Gladiators stretched the lead back out to double digits at 46-36.
Dunlap found a sweet spot in the left corner and dropped in his final two treys, and Roberts had a nice fourth quarter as the Big Red confidently and calmly held off any further threats. They eventually took their largest lead of the night at 17 before a late trey by the Generals accounted for the final points.
The Gladiators will now savor their modest two-game win streak and hope to make it three with a home date against Wilson on Tuesday. The Green Team took it on the chin big time tonight from R E Lee, so they will come into Greenville that night either mad as a h---- (fill in the blank) or perhaps feeling a little demoralized. Either way, they should get a solid challenge from a re-energized Big Red squad.
In tonight's JV game, Riverheads made it a clean sweep with a methodical 43-28 win over the Junior Generals. Sharpshooter Adam Painter hit a pair of early threes to give the Big Red a working margin, and they were able to sub freely throughout the game and hold on to their lead.
I have not looked for official scores, but word on the street was that the Lady Gladiators also took care of business at home, giving RHS a perfect 4-0 sweep over SJ tonight. Those are always nice but don't come along very often. For the Lady Gladiators varsity, it was their first district win of the year.
