If you have been following these RHS reports this year, then you are aware that the Gladiators have had almost an entire season of losing games in the late stages, sometimes after holding the lead and seeming to be on the verge of winning. Well tonight, in yet another amazing ending, the worm turned and they pulled out a victory although I imagine the folks from Mountain View who made the trip grumbled all the way home about the circumstances behind that Riverheads victory.
The final score was 64-61, but believe it or not, with three seconds left in regulation, the Gladiators were trailing by four points before an incredible series of events allowed them to tie the game and then they pretty much controlled the overtime.
If you try to watch the NFHS video, I doubt if you will be able to fully appreciate the game, but I know I plan to give it a watch myself to remember just how wild the action got. First of all, the visiting Generals deserve all the credit in the world for how well they played, considering how their season has gone. They came into the game with only one victory and just last Wednesday had lost 46-23 to this same Riverheads team. So the expectation tonight was logically that RHS, with home court advantage, would roll to an even easier win.
Instead, the Generals came out firing from three-point range and set the tone for the game from the very beginning. Three different guys bombed away as they grabbed a 9-3 lead less than two minutes into the game. Tye Morris hit one for RHS and Bennett Dunlap canned the first of his four on the night to make it 9-6 as no one scored from two point range until the final three minutes of the quarter. MV led 16-12 after one.
Riverheads then had its most productive quarter of the game, doubling up the visitors 20-10 to take a 32-26 lead into the locker room. At that point, the assumption on either side was most likely that the Gladiators had seized the momentum and would be able to pad that margin and win as easily as they had been expected to.
Instead a slow-paced third quarter saw the Big Red still leading, but only 39-34 heading into the final eight minutes of action. MV then came charging back on more three pointers and finally caught the Gladiators at 44. The teams, who by that time had settled into a game of HORSE, then exchanged more triples to create ties at 47 and again at 50.
With roughly two minutes left in the game, the Big Red canned a solo foul shot to make it 51-50 but when the second one came up short, that opened the door for a Mountain View victory. They canned yet another three to take their first lead of the second half at 53-51 and following a Riverheads turnover, things were looking bleak for the home team.
At this late hour I can't remember if the Generals hit a basket or a pair of foul shots next, but I do know that with 10 seconds left on the clock they had a 55-51 lead and the sparse crowd consisting mainly of their JV team was ready to rock and roll back up the interstate. But we still had some drama left in this one........
RHS stormed down the court and with 2.2 left on the clock, Ryan Farris drained the fourth of his three pointers to trim the lead to 55-54. The Gladiators took an immediate time out but most of us had seen enough TV games to know that their chances of getting the ball back and winning were mighty doggone slim and that the Generals were most likely going to escape with the win and add even more frustration to Riverheads' season.
Instead, everything that happened in that final 2.2 can only be described as amazing. First of all, on the MV inbounds play, Gladiator Levi Byer hit the floor with a thud and a whistle blew. But believe it or not the referee that blew the whistle gave NO indication whatsoever of what call he was making! So for about five seconds or so, we had no idea who, if anyone, had been fouled.
But finally it became apparent that MV was headed to the foul line with the clock showing exactly 1.0. Prior to the guy stepping to the foul line, I noticed a Riverheads captain saying something to a ref and I now know what that was all about.
The Generals player hit the first foul shot to make it 56-54. When he missed the second, the Big Red called time out and it was granted with .6 on the clock. So that conversation had no doubt been about their intent to call that immediate time out.
So if you are following this story, there the Gladiators found themselves at the opposite end of the court, trailing by two points, with .6 left on the clock. Nobody in the gym believed they still had a chance to win the game.
After the time out, RHS fired a pass 3/4 of the way down the floor in the direction of their own bench. One of the Generals appeared to intercept it and a whistle blew. Once again, for the second time in less than 2 seconds of clock time, no clear signal was given and we had no idea what the call was, whose ball it was going to be, was the game perhaps over, how much time might be left, etc. And remember at the high school level, you can't go to the table and review the tape 10 or 12 times to make your decision!
So the refs got together and finally it appeared that the call was that the MV player had indeed intercepted the pass but was standing out of bounds at the time. Therefore the ball was going to be awarded to Riverheads in front of its own bench. As for the time, it momentarily appeared that no time was coming off the clock, but soon we could see that the time was being adjusted to read .3.
After another time out, the Gladiators tossed the ball into Byer just to the left of the lane. He turned and fired in a game tying jumper. The basket was waved good and we headed into overtime. So the question on everyone's mind at that time was "can you really catch, turn, and shoot all in .3?" On this particular Monday night with Riverheads desperately in need of a win, the answer was "yes."
The Gladiators then scored the first four points of the overtime and never trailed again, holding on for the three point win. Farris, who was by far the leading scorer down the stretch, finished with 24, Dunlap added 15, Byer 14, and Morris 7. Landon Lightner and Adan Slack each added a bucket, but considering the outcome, their points were as important as any other.
I don't have scoring totals for the Generals but it is obvious from the fight they put up that they apparently played a better game tonight than all their others put together. Riverheads had a season-high nine triples tonight and I would guess the Generals met or exceeded that total. There were times they just could not miss.
So it was a heart-stopper if there ever was one, and then to make me go home and watch UVa pull off their big win at Duke was almost more than these old nerves could take! Quite a wild Monday night for sure.
The Gladiator JVs were likewise expected to roll easily tonight and they did exactly that as it only took them something like 55 minutes to demolish the Baby Generals 62-10. With the running clock in effect for the entire second half, the Generals might have finished with only four points if not for 5'2" Jackson Saeler knocking down two triples in the fourth quarter. It bears mentioning by the way that the Mountain View JVs are ALL eighth-graders and the varsity only has two seniors on a 12-man roster. So better things are ahead for that team.
Riverheads will have to come back down quickly from the emotional high of this one as they travel to Wilson Tuesday night to face the district-leading Green Hornets. We can only hope that Buffalo Gap made the Green Team work as hard tonight as MV made us work so that it can be at least somewhat of a fair fight. The Gladiators then return to Greenville Friday for their final home game as they will host Waynesboro. They then wrap up the regular season next week with trips to Waynesboro and Buffalo Gap.
The final score was 64-61, but believe it or not, with three seconds left in regulation, the Gladiators were trailing by four points before an incredible series of events allowed them to tie the game and then they pretty much controlled the overtime.
If you try to watch the NFHS video, I doubt if you will be able to fully appreciate the game, but I know I plan to give it a watch myself to remember just how wild the action got. First of all, the visiting Generals deserve all the credit in the world for how well they played, considering how their season has gone. They came into the game with only one victory and just last Wednesday had lost 46-23 to this same Riverheads team. So the expectation tonight was logically that RHS, with home court advantage, would roll to an even easier win.
Instead, the Generals came out firing from three-point range and set the tone for the game from the very beginning. Three different guys bombed away as they grabbed a 9-3 lead less than two minutes into the game. Tye Morris hit one for RHS and Bennett Dunlap canned the first of his four on the night to make it 9-6 as no one scored from two point range until the final three minutes of the quarter. MV led 16-12 after one.
Riverheads then had its most productive quarter of the game, doubling up the visitors 20-10 to take a 32-26 lead into the locker room. At that point, the assumption on either side was most likely that the Gladiators had seized the momentum and would be able to pad that margin and win as easily as they had been expected to.
Instead a slow-paced third quarter saw the Big Red still leading, but only 39-34 heading into the final eight minutes of action. MV then came charging back on more three pointers and finally caught the Gladiators at 44. The teams, who by that time had settled into a game of HORSE, then exchanged more triples to create ties at 47 and again at 50.
With roughly two minutes left in the game, the Big Red canned a solo foul shot to make it 51-50 but when the second one came up short, that opened the door for a Mountain View victory. They canned yet another three to take their first lead of the second half at 53-51 and following a Riverheads turnover, things were looking bleak for the home team.
At this late hour I can't remember if the Generals hit a basket or a pair of foul shots next, but I do know that with 10 seconds left on the clock they had a 55-51 lead and the sparse crowd consisting mainly of their JV team was ready to rock and roll back up the interstate. But we still had some drama left in this one........
RHS stormed down the court and with 2.2 left on the clock, Ryan Farris drained the fourth of his three pointers to trim the lead to 55-54. The Gladiators took an immediate time out but most of us had seen enough TV games to know that their chances of getting the ball back and winning were mighty doggone slim and that the Generals were most likely going to escape with the win and add even more frustration to Riverheads' season.
Instead, everything that happened in that final 2.2 can only be described as amazing. First of all, on the MV inbounds play, Gladiator Levi Byer hit the floor with a thud and a whistle blew. But believe it or not the referee that blew the whistle gave NO indication whatsoever of what call he was making! So for about five seconds or so, we had no idea who, if anyone, had been fouled.
But finally it became apparent that MV was headed to the foul line with the clock showing exactly 1.0. Prior to the guy stepping to the foul line, I noticed a Riverheads captain saying something to a ref and I now know what that was all about.
The Generals player hit the first foul shot to make it 56-54. When he missed the second, the Big Red called time out and it was granted with .6 on the clock. So that conversation had no doubt been about their intent to call that immediate time out.
So if you are following this story, there the Gladiators found themselves at the opposite end of the court, trailing by two points, with .6 left on the clock. Nobody in the gym believed they still had a chance to win the game.
After the time out, RHS fired a pass 3/4 of the way down the floor in the direction of their own bench. One of the Generals appeared to intercept it and a whistle blew. Once again, for the second time in less than 2 seconds of clock time, no clear signal was given and we had no idea what the call was, whose ball it was going to be, was the game perhaps over, how much time might be left, etc. And remember at the high school level, you can't go to the table and review the tape 10 or 12 times to make your decision!
So the refs got together and finally it appeared that the call was that the MV player had indeed intercepted the pass but was standing out of bounds at the time. Therefore the ball was going to be awarded to Riverheads in front of its own bench. As for the time, it momentarily appeared that no time was coming off the clock, but soon we could see that the time was being adjusted to read .3.
After another time out, the Gladiators tossed the ball into Byer just to the left of the lane. He turned and fired in a game tying jumper. The basket was waved good and we headed into overtime. So the question on everyone's mind at that time was "can you really catch, turn, and shoot all in .3?" On this particular Monday night with Riverheads desperately in need of a win, the answer was "yes."
The Gladiators then scored the first four points of the overtime and never trailed again, holding on for the three point win. Farris, who was by far the leading scorer down the stretch, finished with 24, Dunlap added 15, Byer 14, and Morris 7. Landon Lightner and Adan Slack each added a bucket, but considering the outcome, their points were as important as any other.
I don't have scoring totals for the Generals but it is obvious from the fight they put up that they apparently played a better game tonight than all their others put together. Riverheads had a season-high nine triples tonight and I would guess the Generals met or exceeded that total. There were times they just could not miss.
So it was a heart-stopper if there ever was one, and then to make me go home and watch UVa pull off their big win at Duke was almost more than these old nerves could take! Quite a wild Monday night for sure.
The Gladiator JVs were likewise expected to roll easily tonight and they did exactly that as it only took them something like 55 minutes to demolish the Baby Generals 62-10. With the running clock in effect for the entire second half, the Generals might have finished with only four points if not for 5'2" Jackson Saeler knocking down two triples in the fourth quarter. It bears mentioning by the way that the Mountain View JVs are ALL eighth-graders and the varsity only has two seniors on a 12-man roster. So better things are ahead for that team.
Riverheads will have to come back down quickly from the emotional high of this one as they travel to Wilson Tuesday night to face the district-leading Green Hornets. We can only hope that Buffalo Gap made the Green Team work as hard tonight as MV made us work so that it can be at least somewhat of a fair fight. The Gladiators then return to Greenville Friday for their final home game as they will host Waynesboro. They then wrap up the regular season next week with trips to Waynesboro and Buffalo Gap.
