After a sluggish first quarter in which the visiting Gladiators were in somewhat of a fog, they kicked it up three different times and went on scoring spurts to ease past Waynesboro 55-42. The win evens the Big Red's district record at 1-1, where it will stay the rest of the week, since they will not have another district game until Monday of next week.
Waynesboro came out clicking on all cylinders in the first quarter and raced to a 17-10 lead. The Gladiators just appeared to be sleepwalking and if it had not been for Chase Donathan coming off the bench for five quick points, they might have been even further behind. He came into the game when starting guard J P Crawford picked up two quick fouls.
But the time out between quarters was all it took to re-focus the Gladiators and by halftime they had grabbed the lead for good. In a rather odd second quarter, the entire scoring pattern was Riverheads 9 straight points, Waynesboro 7 straight points, Riverheads 9 straight points. That put the Big Red ahead 28-24 at the break. The big change was a step up in defensive pressure and Will Gardner finding his groove from three point range on the way to a season-high 24 point game.
A pair of Little Giant foul shots put the home team back within two points to open the third quarter, but then Riverheads went on Spurt Number Three, a 10-0 run that put them ahead 38-26. During that final and most decisive run, Gardner canned his fourth and fifth triples, one of which spun around the rim 10 or 15 times before finally settling into the net. Also Jackson Brammer, who had been scoreless to that point, found the range inside and scored six points in the third, which ended with RHS ahead 42-30.
From that point on, the lead fluctuated between 10 and 17 and the Giants never seriously threatened. Riverheads was trying its darnedest to slow the pace down and coast to the victory but Waynesboro stepped up the intensity, which led to some chippiness down the stretch. Fans on both sides were overheard letting the officials know that they did not have this one under control as much as they thought they did, but the game finally ended and sent the Gladiators home with their seventh win of the season against five losses. They will travel to Bath County Thursday night for a non-district game, and then resume district play with back to back games Monday and Tuesday against Stuarts Draft on the road and Staunton at home.
As they have done all season, the Gladiators somewhat balanced out their scoring, although Gardner was the main weapon. Crawford eventually fouled out but not before adding 10 points. Brammer finished with 8, Henley Dunlap with 7, Donathan with his 5, and Jaxon Duff added a free throw to account for the 55 point total.
The JV game was even more rough and tumble as Waynesboro pretty much went full court pressure the entire game, which rattled Riverheads' team that features about half eighth-graders. The Little Giants built an early double-digit lead, but Riverheads hit enough threes to close the gap down to four before Waynesboro eased back out to a 49-35 victory.
As of the moment, I have not seen scores from either of the girls' games, which were of course played at Greenville tonight. If the varsity Gladiators were able to prevail in that one, they would be off to a 2-0 start in district play.
In other boys action tonight in the Shenandoah, Staunton handled Wilson its first loss of the season in a tight one, while Stuarts Draft held visiting Buffalo Gap to just 21 points in a win at the Cougar Den. Fort Defiance was the team off tonight.
Waynesboro came out clicking on all cylinders in the first quarter and raced to a 17-10 lead. The Gladiators just appeared to be sleepwalking and if it had not been for Chase Donathan coming off the bench for five quick points, they might have been even further behind. He came into the game when starting guard J P Crawford picked up two quick fouls.
But the time out between quarters was all it took to re-focus the Gladiators and by halftime they had grabbed the lead for good. In a rather odd second quarter, the entire scoring pattern was Riverheads 9 straight points, Waynesboro 7 straight points, Riverheads 9 straight points. That put the Big Red ahead 28-24 at the break. The big change was a step up in defensive pressure and Will Gardner finding his groove from three point range on the way to a season-high 24 point game.
A pair of Little Giant foul shots put the home team back within two points to open the third quarter, but then Riverheads went on Spurt Number Three, a 10-0 run that put them ahead 38-26. During that final and most decisive run, Gardner canned his fourth and fifth triples, one of which spun around the rim 10 or 15 times before finally settling into the net. Also Jackson Brammer, who had been scoreless to that point, found the range inside and scored six points in the third, which ended with RHS ahead 42-30.
From that point on, the lead fluctuated between 10 and 17 and the Giants never seriously threatened. Riverheads was trying its darnedest to slow the pace down and coast to the victory but Waynesboro stepped up the intensity, which led to some chippiness down the stretch. Fans on both sides were overheard letting the officials know that they did not have this one under control as much as they thought they did, but the game finally ended and sent the Gladiators home with their seventh win of the season against five losses. They will travel to Bath County Thursday night for a non-district game, and then resume district play with back to back games Monday and Tuesday against Stuarts Draft on the road and Staunton at home.
As they have done all season, the Gladiators somewhat balanced out their scoring, although Gardner was the main weapon. Crawford eventually fouled out but not before adding 10 points. Brammer finished with 8, Henley Dunlap with 7, Donathan with his 5, and Jaxon Duff added a free throw to account for the 55 point total.
The JV game was even more rough and tumble as Waynesboro pretty much went full court pressure the entire game, which rattled Riverheads' team that features about half eighth-graders. The Little Giants built an early double-digit lead, but Riverheads hit enough threes to close the gap down to four before Waynesboro eased back out to a 49-35 victory.
As of the moment, I have not seen scores from either of the girls' games, which were of course played at Greenville tonight. If the varsity Gladiators were able to prevail in that one, they would be off to a 2-0 start in district play.
In other boys action tonight in the Shenandoah, Staunton handled Wilson its first loss of the season in a tight one, while Stuarts Draft held visiting Buffalo Gap to just 21 points in a win at the Cougar Den. Fort Defiance was the team off tonight.
