Junior Guard Zack Adams stroked a triple from the right wing in the closing seconds of the first half tonight to give Riverheads its first lead of the game and the Gladiators went on to stun the Fighting Leemen on their own floor 68-62. The Big Red had won the earlier game in Greenville by just a single digit so this one tonight would have to come as at least a mild surprise, but simply put, RHS played its absolute best game of the season at the time they needed it the most.
As a result the Gladiators took a giant step toward finishing in the top four in the district standings, which would allow them to host a first-round Shenandoah District Tournament game a week from Friday. That race remains too close to call, although Riverheads' win tonight probably had the direct effect of handing the second seed for the tournament to Stuarts Draft. But positions three through six will be a mad scramble down the stretch between tonight's two teams along with Wilson and resurgent Page County. There will no doubt be some ties that will need to be broken.
Tonight's game was all about the guard play of both teams since neither one has had a dominant big man this season. So each tried to establish the three point line, which Lee was only able to do in the first half, mainly in the person of senior Trevyn West, whereas Riverheads had five different guys connect once each from behind the arc. Included were four who would ultimately finish in double figures.......Grant Painter (25), Adams (15), Drew Bond (10), and Elijah Dunlap (10.)
And then there was that fifth trey that came from the unlikely source of Forrest Shuey. The senior forward, who is usually known as an inside banger and charge-drawer (if that is a word) has apparently been keeping a secret outside stroke from us all these years, but he has now unveiled it twice now and each time he hit one when the Big Red needed it most.
When the teams weren't bombing away from outside, the guards were driving down the lane and drawing fouls, which meant a lot of whistles and a lot of trips to the charity stripe. For most of the second half, it looked as if that statistic (fouls) was going to work against the Gladiators, as they had Lee on the double bonus pretty early. But down the stretch, they turned things around and the trio of Adams, Dunlap and Painter were deadly calm at the line over the deciding final few minutes of the game.
Lee took the early lead tonight, moving out to a 12-6 advantage after a pair of early triples. They stretched it out to 8 by the end of the quarter (18-10) and took a double digit lead at 22-12 when suddenly RHS made a move. They outscored the Leemen 20-9 to wrap up the half with the treys from Painter, Shuey and Adams a significant part of that run as the visitors took a 32-31 lead into the locker room.
Bond got his three early in the third quarter to give RHS its biggest lead to that point at 35-31. The Leemen rallied however and midway through the quarter a technical on Riverheads allowed Lee to take a 40-37 lead and for a few minutes at least, it appeared as if the home crowd might be seeing the game turn in their favor. But RHS kept its cool and Dunlap's triple, the Gladiators' last of the night but arguably the most important, put the visitors ahead 47-45 entering the final stanza.
As already implied, that fourth quarter was a constant parade to the foul line at both ends, but for the most part Riverheads maintained its lead and I don't think Lee was ever ahead in the fourth by more than one or two. When the Gladiator lead reached five around the three-minute mark, the fans started to believe, and they led by as many as eight in the final minute.
At the beginning of this season, everyone knew this would be a rebuilding year for the Leemen, with their two big men moving on to the next level, but still the idea that Riverheads could ever knock off the traditional powerhouse was a dream more than anything. So the one-point home win was the first surprise but to beat the Leemen on their own floor has to be icing on the cake.
The question will now be: Can Riverheads come back down to earth in time to beat Parry McCluer in less than 24 hours? We will find out in .....well in about 24 hours. Then the Senior Night finale on Tuesday at home against Page will be a big part of sorting out the tournament seeding. The four teams involved in that scramble will finish somewhere between third and sixth, meaning two will host opening round games and two will travel.
In tonight's JV action, the Leemen came out strong, hitting five triples in the first quarter to establish command. Riverheads came back in the second half to cut the lead down to seven, before Lee ended the game on a huge run that made the final a somewhat deceiving 56-32. Riverheads had won the earlier meeting by 16.
While all this fun and games was unraveling in Staunton, the Lady Gladiators were easily sweeping both games from Lee down in Greenville as each Riverheads team has been on fire lately. The girls will now be off until Tuesday when they have a big one up at Page.
As a result the Gladiators took a giant step toward finishing in the top four in the district standings, which would allow them to host a first-round Shenandoah District Tournament game a week from Friday. That race remains too close to call, although Riverheads' win tonight probably had the direct effect of handing the second seed for the tournament to Stuarts Draft. But positions three through six will be a mad scramble down the stretch between tonight's two teams along with Wilson and resurgent Page County. There will no doubt be some ties that will need to be broken.
Tonight's game was all about the guard play of both teams since neither one has had a dominant big man this season. So each tried to establish the three point line, which Lee was only able to do in the first half, mainly in the person of senior Trevyn West, whereas Riverheads had five different guys connect once each from behind the arc. Included were four who would ultimately finish in double figures.......Grant Painter (25), Adams (15), Drew Bond (10), and Elijah Dunlap (10.)
And then there was that fifth trey that came from the unlikely source of Forrest Shuey. The senior forward, who is usually known as an inside banger and charge-drawer (if that is a word) has apparently been keeping a secret outside stroke from us all these years, but he has now unveiled it twice now and each time he hit one when the Big Red needed it most.
When the teams weren't bombing away from outside, the guards were driving down the lane and drawing fouls, which meant a lot of whistles and a lot of trips to the charity stripe. For most of the second half, it looked as if that statistic (fouls) was going to work against the Gladiators, as they had Lee on the double bonus pretty early. But down the stretch, they turned things around and the trio of Adams, Dunlap and Painter were deadly calm at the line over the deciding final few minutes of the game.
Lee took the early lead tonight, moving out to a 12-6 advantage after a pair of early triples. They stretched it out to 8 by the end of the quarter (18-10) and took a double digit lead at 22-12 when suddenly RHS made a move. They outscored the Leemen 20-9 to wrap up the half with the treys from Painter, Shuey and Adams a significant part of that run as the visitors took a 32-31 lead into the locker room.
Bond got his three early in the third quarter to give RHS its biggest lead to that point at 35-31. The Leemen rallied however and midway through the quarter a technical on Riverheads allowed Lee to take a 40-37 lead and for a few minutes at least, it appeared as if the home crowd might be seeing the game turn in their favor. But RHS kept its cool and Dunlap's triple, the Gladiators' last of the night but arguably the most important, put the visitors ahead 47-45 entering the final stanza.
As already implied, that fourth quarter was a constant parade to the foul line at both ends, but for the most part Riverheads maintained its lead and I don't think Lee was ever ahead in the fourth by more than one or two. When the Gladiator lead reached five around the three-minute mark, the fans started to believe, and they led by as many as eight in the final minute.
At the beginning of this season, everyone knew this would be a rebuilding year for the Leemen, with their two big men moving on to the next level, but still the idea that Riverheads could ever knock off the traditional powerhouse was a dream more than anything. So the one-point home win was the first surprise but to beat the Leemen on their own floor has to be icing on the cake.
The question will now be: Can Riverheads come back down to earth in time to beat Parry McCluer in less than 24 hours? We will find out in .....well in about 24 hours. Then the Senior Night finale on Tuesday at home against Page will be a big part of sorting out the tournament seeding. The four teams involved in that scramble will finish somewhere between third and sixth, meaning two will host opening round games and two will travel.
In tonight's JV action, the Leemen came out strong, hitting five triples in the first quarter to establish command. Riverheads came back in the second half to cut the lead down to seven, before Lee ended the game on a huge run that made the final a somewhat deceiving 56-32. Riverheads had won the earlier meeting by 16.
While all this fun and games was unraveling in Staunton, the Lady Gladiators were easily sweeping both games from Lee down in Greenville as each Riverheads team has been on fire lately. The girls will now be off until Tuesday when they have a big one up at Page.
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