Riverheads over Stuart’s Draft
- Thread starter knowhen
- Start date
This was one of the most intensely physical battles these two have had in a long time. Bodies hit the floor constantly, the refs didn't seem to call half the things they should, they got booed for a lot of what they did call, and the teams traded extended scoring spurts, with Riverheads closing the game on an 8-0 spree that included the game winner.
As I had mentioned earlier in the day, Riverheads had never been able to beat the Draft on its own floor since Coach Gale went to the Grinnell offense. But they finally managed to get the job done tonight, mainly due to their ability to handle the press, but they also hit some timely threes of their own, a strategy the Big Red generally had not tried in most of the more recent meetings between the two.
The heroes were many for the visitors. The one who will get the most ink and congratulations will be junior guard Grant Painter, who scored 11 of RHS' 20 fourth quarter points, including the game winner at the final horn. But for my money, and probably that of anyone else in attendance, the game ball really has to go to his fellow junior Zack Adams, who had a career-high 27 points and was in a zone tonight, especially during a personal 10-point spree in the second quarter. Prior to tonight, his biggest game of the year had been nine points and he had connected on only one triple, but tonight he hit back-to-back threes during that amazing second quarter.
But with a game that came down to only a two-point win, you cannot overlook the importance of Drew Bond's six points and for that matter, the Big Red would not have won without the efforts of five others who scored one bucket apiece. Even the remaining two players who didn't score hustled their butts off and arguably contributed to the win. So hats off to the Big Red's 10-man iron squad for battling against SD and its 14 guys who come at you with both barrels blazing from start to finish.
The action started a little slow as we were almost two minutes into the game before SD hit a three to open the scoring. It then took another minute before RHS could dent the scoreboard. Draft hit two more triples and moved out to an 11-4 lead and appeared ready to blow the game open.
Instead Adams began to let his presence be known as the Big Red scored 11 points in a row to take a 15-11 lead late in the quarter. The Cougars scored to make it 15-13 at the end of the period only to see Adams REALLY explode. With him leading the way the Gladiators scored 12 more in a row to open the second quarter, and completed a 23-2 run to take their largest lead of the night at 27-13.
But then the game took its oddest twist of the night. A foul was called on Adams and he was then hit with a technical for protesting it, a call that did not sit well at all with the Gladiator faithful. That turn of events fired up the home team and it was their turn to explode on offense. They came all the way back to tie the score at 31 at the break. For Riverheads, Adams had 14 at that point and Painter had 9.
The second half was just one gigantic see saw ride. Every time it looked like Riverheads had hit a key bucket to turn the tide in their favor, the Cougars would hit one of their impossible threes. The student section no longer keeps a count of them as they once did, but I would estimate they hit about 10 tonight. Not knowing their personnel, it seemed to me that the names we heard the most in connection with their second half scoring were Jared Rosen, Kasey Branch, and Mark Rodger. My apologies if I left out anyone.
The third quarter ended in a tie also at 46, setting the stage for a frantic finish. SD was in control for most of the fourth and in fact when Jo'el Howard knocked down a three to put the home team up 62-55, I told my neighbor in the stands that we had probably just seen the dagger. But somehow the Gladiators dug down for that something extra and with Draft ahead 64-58, Riverheads came back for the big win. Painter hit one three to close the gap to 64-63, and with roughly 30 seconds on the clock the Gladiators fouled and sent Rosen (I believe) to the line. He missed the front end of the one and one, giving RHS the opening it needed.
The Gladiators worked the ball into the front court and called their final timeout with 7.9 seconds left. That final possession may not have played out "exactly" as it was drawn up, because at the four second mark the ball was still much closer to the half court line than we needed it to be. But somehow Painter came off a screen and hit the game winner from the left wing to finish with 22 points on the night.
Next up for RHS is a home date with East Rockingham on Thursday, followed by a re-match with Parry McCluer Saturday in Lexington at the Rock the Ribbon. After the intensity of tonight's game I will admire the heck out of the Big Red if they have any legs left at all for those two challenges, but at least we know we will still have a winning record at the end of the week, as the win tonight puts RHS at 6-3 on the season. Best news of all, after having played 7 of our first 9 games on the road, guess who is looking forward to a LOT of home games the rest of the way????
In JV action tonight, the Junior Cougars employed the same kind of intensity and three-point marksmanship that the varsity would later show and raced past the Junior G'men 64-39.
As I had mentioned earlier in the day, Riverheads had never been able to beat the Draft on its own floor since Coach Gale went to the Grinnell offense. But they finally managed to get the job done tonight, mainly due to their ability to handle the press, but they also hit some timely threes of their own, a strategy the Big Red generally had not tried in most of the more recent meetings between the two.
The heroes were many for the visitors. The one who will get the most ink and congratulations will be junior guard Grant Painter, who scored 11 of RHS' 20 fourth quarter points, including the game winner at the final horn. But for my money, and probably that of anyone else in attendance, the game ball really has to go to his fellow junior Zack Adams, who had a career-high 27 points and was in a zone tonight, especially during a personal 10-point spree in the second quarter. Prior to tonight, his biggest game of the year had been nine points and he had connected on only one triple, but tonight he hit back-to-back threes during that amazing second quarter.
But with a game that came down to only a two-point win, you cannot overlook the importance of Drew Bond's six points and for that matter, the Big Red would not have won without the efforts of five others who scored one bucket apiece. Even the remaining two players who didn't score hustled their butts off and arguably contributed to the win. So hats off to the Big Red's 10-man iron squad for battling against SD and its 14 guys who come at you with both barrels blazing from start to finish.
The action started a little slow as we were almost two minutes into the game before SD hit a three to open the scoring. It then took another minute before RHS could dent the scoreboard. Draft hit two more triples and moved out to an 11-4 lead and appeared ready to blow the game open.
Instead Adams began to let his presence be known as the Big Red scored 11 points in a row to take a 15-11 lead late in the quarter. The Cougars scored to make it 15-13 at the end of the period only to see Adams REALLY explode. With him leading the way the Gladiators scored 12 more in a row to open the second quarter, and completed a 23-2 run to take their largest lead of the night at 27-13.
But then the game took its oddest twist of the night. A foul was called on Adams and he was then hit with a technical for protesting it, a call that did not sit well at all with the Gladiator faithful. That turn of events fired up the home team and it was their turn to explode on offense. They came all the way back to tie the score at 31 at the break. For Riverheads, Adams had 14 at that point and Painter had 9.
The second half was just one gigantic see saw ride. Every time it looked like Riverheads had hit a key bucket to turn the tide in their favor, the Cougars would hit one of their impossible threes. The student section no longer keeps a count of them as they once did, but I would estimate they hit about 10 tonight. Not knowing their personnel, it seemed to me that the names we heard the most in connection with their second half scoring were Jared Rosen, Kasey Branch, and Mark Rodger. My apologies if I left out anyone.
The third quarter ended in a tie also at 46, setting the stage for a frantic finish. SD was in control for most of the fourth and in fact when Jo'el Howard knocked down a three to put the home team up 62-55, I told my neighbor in the stands that we had probably just seen the dagger. But somehow the Gladiators dug down for that something extra and with Draft ahead 64-58, Riverheads came back for the big win. Painter hit one three to close the gap to 64-63, and with roughly 30 seconds on the clock the Gladiators fouled and sent Rosen (I believe) to the line. He missed the front end of the one and one, giving RHS the opening it needed.
The Gladiators worked the ball into the front court and called their final timeout with 7.9 seconds left. That final possession may not have played out "exactly" as it was drawn up, because at the four second mark the ball was still much closer to the half court line than we needed it to be. But somehow Painter came off a screen and hit the game winner from the left wing to finish with 22 points on the night.
Next up for RHS is a home date with East Rockingham on Thursday, followed by a re-match with Parry McCluer Saturday in Lexington at the Rock the Ribbon. After the intensity of tonight's game I will admire the heck out of the Big Red if they have any legs left at all for those two challenges, but at least we know we will still have a winning record at the end of the week, as the win tonight puts RHS at 6-3 on the season. Best news of all, after having played 7 of our first 9 games on the road, guess who is looking forward to a LOT of home games the rest of the way????
In JV action tonight, the Junior Cougars employed the same kind of intensity and three-point marksmanship that the varsity would later show and raced past the Junior G'men 64-39.
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One of these days I might learn to read the newspaper stories before I post. One of them refreshed my memory that it was an old-fashioned three point play from Adams that brought Riverheads to within 64-63 and gave them the chance to pull out the win. Painter did have another three in the fourth quarter other than the game-winner, but he did not hit back to back triples as I made it sound. (I am old you know so I make a mistake here and there.)
Also just read that the Lady Gladiators celebrated their own two-point win over the Lady Cougars down in Greenville tonight. The Riverheads JV girls rolled and are now 11-1 on the season.
Also just read that the Lady Gladiators celebrated their own two-point win over the Lady Cougars down in Greenville tonight. The Riverheads JV girls rolled and are now 11-1 on the season.
