The Gladiators had quite a few statistical things going in their favor tonight almost from the opening tip, but still pretty much needed all four quarters to subdue the visiting Little Giants. The teams will meet again in Waynesboro Monday night and some sources say that the Big Red needs to win either there or at Buffalo Gap Tuesday to earn a spot in the Region 1-B playoffs.
The first break that went the way of RHS was the fact that Waynesboro only brought 8 healthy bodies to the game. That put them at a disadvantage in terms of having fouls to give as well as overall endurance. To make matters worse for the visitors, the first 7 fouls called in the game went against them, and their leading scorer and floor general Charles Haynes picked up three of those seven by the end of the first quarter and had to take a seat before getting much of a chance to show his stuff.
He came back in the game in the second quarter and then played most of the second half. He did eventually pick up his fourth foul but neither he nor any other Giant fouled out.
Despite Haynes being shackled in the early going, Riverheads was not able to build much of a margin. Levi Byer was the main weapon early, as he patrolled the paint, drawing fouls and getting some contested buckets in the lane. He scored exactly half of the Big Red's 26 first half points as they took a 26-20 lead into the locker room.
Waynesboro was never able to catch up but still they kept the Gladiators within sight for the third quarter, trailing only 40-31 entering the final stanza. For the Gladiators, their outside marksmen Bennett Dunlap and Ryan Farris warmed up along the way and finished with 16 and 13, giving the victors a well-balanced trio of double figure scorers.
Waynesboro was not getting any consistent offense out of anyone, although there were some nice individual plays here and there. But I would be surprised if they had a double figure scorer tonight.
RHS finally took a double digit lead at 41-31 in the opening seconds of the fourth and padded it from there, with their largest lead being 20 at 57-37 before the Giants nailed a closing three-pointer.
With the win, Riverheads ties the Giants in the win column as each now has two district wins. So in addition to the playoff significance of Monday's game, the teams will also be playing to see who can avoid the basement.
In a rough and tumble JV game tonight, Riverheads was be-bopping along with a 30-26 lead early in the second half when the visiting Giants turned up the heat and closed the third quarter on a 12-0 spurt as they went on to win 51-42. Gladiator fans did at least get a cheap thrill as their final basket of the night was a triple from the half court line by Jackson Brammer. This game was sort of a survival of the fittest affair as each team only dressed out seven healthy players tonight. By the end of the game, at least two Giants and maybe a Gladiator or two as well had four fouls, so it could have gotten interesting.
When the two meet again Monday, the Gladiators will try to return the favor as they did against Staunton this season, when they lost by double digits at home but then evened the score on the road. Regardless of the outcome of that one as well as Tuesday's game at Buffalo Gap, the Big Red JVs have had a great season (now 11-6) and they will be a team to reckon with in the future.
The first break that went the way of RHS was the fact that Waynesboro only brought 8 healthy bodies to the game. That put them at a disadvantage in terms of having fouls to give as well as overall endurance. To make matters worse for the visitors, the first 7 fouls called in the game went against them, and their leading scorer and floor general Charles Haynes picked up three of those seven by the end of the first quarter and had to take a seat before getting much of a chance to show his stuff.
He came back in the game in the second quarter and then played most of the second half. He did eventually pick up his fourth foul but neither he nor any other Giant fouled out.
Despite Haynes being shackled in the early going, Riverheads was not able to build much of a margin. Levi Byer was the main weapon early, as he patrolled the paint, drawing fouls and getting some contested buckets in the lane. He scored exactly half of the Big Red's 26 first half points as they took a 26-20 lead into the locker room.
Waynesboro was never able to catch up but still they kept the Gladiators within sight for the third quarter, trailing only 40-31 entering the final stanza. For the Gladiators, their outside marksmen Bennett Dunlap and Ryan Farris warmed up along the way and finished with 16 and 13, giving the victors a well-balanced trio of double figure scorers.
Waynesboro was not getting any consistent offense out of anyone, although there were some nice individual plays here and there. But I would be surprised if they had a double figure scorer tonight.
RHS finally took a double digit lead at 41-31 in the opening seconds of the fourth and padded it from there, with their largest lead being 20 at 57-37 before the Giants nailed a closing three-pointer.
With the win, Riverheads ties the Giants in the win column as each now has two district wins. So in addition to the playoff significance of Monday's game, the teams will also be playing to see who can avoid the basement.
In a rough and tumble JV game tonight, Riverheads was be-bopping along with a 30-26 lead early in the second half when the visiting Giants turned up the heat and closed the third quarter on a 12-0 spurt as they went on to win 51-42. Gladiator fans did at least get a cheap thrill as their final basket of the night was a triple from the half court line by Jackson Brammer. This game was sort of a survival of the fittest affair as each team only dressed out seven healthy players tonight. By the end of the game, at least two Giants and maybe a Gladiator or two as well had four fouls, so it could have gotten interesting.
When the two meet again Monday, the Gladiators will try to return the favor as they did against Staunton this season, when they lost by double digits at home but then evened the score on the road. Regardless of the outcome of that one as well as Tuesday's game at Buffalo Gap, the Big Red JVs have had a great season (now 11-6) and they will be a team to reckon with in the future.
