Sometimes you have one of those games that just never gets any kind of rhythm established and the teams just beat each other up, bodies fly all over the place, and they throw the ball away a couple dozen times until the game mercifully ends. It was kind of like that tonight at Luray and although it lacked in style points, the Gladiators posted the win to move to 2-1 on the season.
Grant Painter led the way, tying his season-high with 23 points. He had five three-pointers and at halftime was actually outscoring the Bulldogs by himself. A number of his teammates attempted triples but no one else connected from behind the arc, a testament to the raggedness of the game.
However, there was one bright spot for the Big Red and I am sure Coach Coffey picked up on it and was happy to see it. I am referring to the increased production from transfer student Honor Robinson, who was tonight's second-leading scorer with eight points.
Moving to a new school and learning a new system of course has to be hard for any kid, but in his case, you also have to factor in Riverheads' annual football delay. He was probably accustomed to joining a full basketball team in early November and having a full month of practice with that team.
In the Big Red's first two outings, he had scored just one bucket each night out, but you could tell the potential was there for bigger production. So we saw a hint of that tonight, not only with the eight points, mainly on stickbacks, but he also had a solid floor game and really hustled. As the season progresses, his inside game will be a nice complement to the Gladiators' perimeter-oriented offense.
Although no one else had a highlight reel game, six other players all scored between two and four points. And for what it is worth, the Big Red took the lead early and never trailed in the game.
Next up for RHS is their first home game of the season Friday night, when the Leemen will come calling. Last year, Riverheads came within a gnat's eyelash of knocking off the traditional powerhouse on its own floor and you can bet the Big Red will not back down from the challenge of throwing another scare into them.
In tonight's JV game the Junior Bulldogs tried their darnedest to foul themselves out of the game, but despite a TON of potential freebies at the charity stripe, Riverheads still had to scratch and claw its way to a 49-45 overtime win.
The Bulldogs, as near as we could tell, had only eight guys dressed out. They were hit with double-digit team fouls in each half, which should have given RHS an easy path to victory. Someway somehow the Dogs managed to finish the game with no one fouling out.
Only problem was the Big Red picked tonight to have an atrocious night at the line. As a result, they trailed at the half, squandered an eight-point lead late in the fourth quarter, before finally pulling it out in the extra session. The defensive efforts of freshman Aiden Miller, one of the shortest but quickest guys on the floor, sparked the win as his steal and driving lay-up to start the overtime gave the visitors a lead they did not relinquish. Like the varsity team the RHS juniors are now 2-1.
Grant Painter led the way, tying his season-high with 23 points. He had five three-pointers and at halftime was actually outscoring the Bulldogs by himself. A number of his teammates attempted triples but no one else connected from behind the arc, a testament to the raggedness of the game.
However, there was one bright spot for the Big Red and I am sure Coach Coffey picked up on it and was happy to see it. I am referring to the increased production from transfer student Honor Robinson, who was tonight's second-leading scorer with eight points.
Moving to a new school and learning a new system of course has to be hard for any kid, but in his case, you also have to factor in Riverheads' annual football delay. He was probably accustomed to joining a full basketball team in early November and having a full month of practice with that team.
In the Big Red's first two outings, he had scored just one bucket each night out, but you could tell the potential was there for bigger production. So we saw a hint of that tonight, not only with the eight points, mainly on stickbacks, but he also had a solid floor game and really hustled. As the season progresses, his inside game will be a nice complement to the Gladiators' perimeter-oriented offense.
Although no one else had a highlight reel game, six other players all scored between two and four points. And for what it is worth, the Big Red took the lead early and never trailed in the game.
Next up for RHS is their first home game of the season Friday night, when the Leemen will come calling. Last year, Riverheads came within a gnat's eyelash of knocking off the traditional powerhouse on its own floor and you can bet the Big Red will not back down from the challenge of throwing another scare into them.
In tonight's JV game the Junior Bulldogs tried their darnedest to foul themselves out of the game, but despite a TON of potential freebies at the charity stripe, Riverheads still had to scratch and claw its way to a 49-45 overtime win.
The Bulldogs, as near as we could tell, had only eight guys dressed out. They were hit with double-digit team fouls in each half, which should have given RHS an easy path to victory. Someway somehow the Dogs managed to finish the game with no one fouling out.
Only problem was the Big Red picked tonight to have an atrocious night at the line. As a result, they trailed at the half, squandered an eight-point lead late in the fourth quarter, before finally pulling it out in the extra session. The defensive efforts of freshman Aiden Miller, one of the shortest but quickest guys on the floor, sparked the win as his steal and driving lay-up to start the overtime gave the visitors a lead they did not relinquish. Like the varsity team the RHS juniors are now 2-1.
