As I had been telling you faithful readers, this year's Gladiators just needed some time to fight through a combination of youth, lack of size, the extended football season, and a tough road schedule; and that once they did, the wins would start to come. Well they actually surprised me and picked up that first confidence-building win one game ahead of when I expected it to happen as they knocked off arch-rival Wilson tonight.
The Gladiators won this one with a combination of patience and poise. They worked the ball around the perimeter waiting for the good shot while we coaches in the stands felt they were passing up shots they should be taking. The game plan seemed to be to pass up the three and instead wait until they could get the higher percentage inside shot. As a result, they failed to connect from behind the arc for the second game in a row, but considering the result, who can complain about that statistic?
The poise part of the win came into play late in the game. The Big Red built a 12-point second half lead and you knew that Wilson would have a run in them. When they made that run, things got a "little" dicey as the visitors cut the lead to 4, but Riverheads hit enough clutch foul shots to hold on for the win.
Brett Hostetler led the way with a 25 point effort that was either a career high or pretty darn close. If it were not for some late shots in the second quarter from Wilson's Ryan Pierce, the teams would have gone to the locker room with Hostetler outscoring the Hornets all by himself, Freshman Drew Bond scored in double digits for the first time in his first year on the varsity, as he added 11. Dakota Cave and Bradley Roberts each added six points that all came at crucial times.
The key stretch of the game for Riverheads was the second quarter. After Wilson sneaked ahead 10-9 after one, RHS scored first in the second quarter and never trailed again. They built a 10-point lead which Wilson then trimmed to six at the half. A crucial point in the game came when the Gladiators got the third foul on Justin Kyle, the Hornets' 6'8" inside force, sending him to the bench for the bulk of the second quarter, which allowed RHS to pad its margin.
That critical opening 2-3 minutes of the third quarter that often decides a basketball game belonged to Riverheads as well. Hostetler scored on a nice backdoor cut to open the scoring and Austin Craft scored from in close to restore the Gladiator lead to double digits. They stretched it to 12 on several occasions and held a 39-28 lead entering the fourth quarter.
At that point the Hornets did the only two things they could to get back in the game...they pounded it inside to Kyle, who scored 13 of his 19 in the fourth quarter, and they sent RHS frequently to the foul line. Roberts and Hostetler, along with Dylan Craig, hit just enough at the charity stripe to hold on to the lead as Wilson got no closer than 48-44 and 54-50.
RHS will now try to make it two in a row at Stonewall Monday night before tackling Stuarts Draft and its madcap offense on Friday night, also on the road. The Big Red then returns home for back to back games against Parry McCluer and Luray on the 18th and 19th.
In JV action, the Gladiators moved their record to 5-2 with a 35-26 win over the Junior Hornets. For the second game in a row, the Big Red fared well without the services of injured starter Braeson Fulton as a fine 16-point effort from Elijah Dunlap keyed the win. The 5'10" eighth-grader buried two triples from the deep right corner in the first half and then helped his own cause down the stretch with some timely foul shooting.
So it was a great night to be a Gladiator and who knows, maybe the addition of a pep band over in the corner was the touch that made the difference? Whether it did or not, why not try it again at future home games?
The Gladiators won this one with a combination of patience and poise. They worked the ball around the perimeter waiting for the good shot while we coaches in the stands felt they were passing up shots they should be taking. The game plan seemed to be to pass up the three and instead wait until they could get the higher percentage inside shot. As a result, they failed to connect from behind the arc for the second game in a row, but considering the result, who can complain about that statistic?
The poise part of the win came into play late in the game. The Big Red built a 12-point second half lead and you knew that Wilson would have a run in them. When they made that run, things got a "little" dicey as the visitors cut the lead to 4, but Riverheads hit enough clutch foul shots to hold on for the win.
Brett Hostetler led the way with a 25 point effort that was either a career high or pretty darn close. If it were not for some late shots in the second quarter from Wilson's Ryan Pierce, the teams would have gone to the locker room with Hostetler outscoring the Hornets all by himself, Freshman Drew Bond scored in double digits for the first time in his first year on the varsity, as he added 11. Dakota Cave and Bradley Roberts each added six points that all came at crucial times.
The key stretch of the game for Riverheads was the second quarter. After Wilson sneaked ahead 10-9 after one, RHS scored first in the second quarter and never trailed again. They built a 10-point lead which Wilson then trimmed to six at the half. A crucial point in the game came when the Gladiators got the third foul on Justin Kyle, the Hornets' 6'8" inside force, sending him to the bench for the bulk of the second quarter, which allowed RHS to pad its margin.
That critical opening 2-3 minutes of the third quarter that often decides a basketball game belonged to Riverheads as well. Hostetler scored on a nice backdoor cut to open the scoring and Austin Craft scored from in close to restore the Gladiator lead to double digits. They stretched it to 12 on several occasions and held a 39-28 lead entering the fourth quarter.
At that point the Hornets did the only two things they could to get back in the game...they pounded it inside to Kyle, who scored 13 of his 19 in the fourth quarter, and they sent RHS frequently to the foul line. Roberts and Hostetler, along with Dylan Craig, hit just enough at the charity stripe to hold on to the lead as Wilson got no closer than 48-44 and 54-50.
RHS will now try to make it two in a row at Stonewall Monday night before tackling Stuarts Draft and its madcap offense on Friday night, also on the road. The Big Red then returns home for back to back games against Parry McCluer and Luray on the 18th and 19th.
In JV action, the Gladiators moved their record to 5-2 with a 35-26 win over the Junior Hornets. For the second game in a row, the Big Red fared well without the services of injured starter Braeson Fulton as a fine 16-point effort from Elijah Dunlap keyed the win. The 5'10" eighth-grader buried two triples from the deep right corner in the first half and then helped his own cause down the stretch with some timely foul shooting.
So it was a great night to be a Gladiator and who knows, maybe the addition of a pep band over in the corner was the touch that made the difference? Whether it did or not, why not try it again at future home games?
