For the Gladiators, tonight was the regular-season finale, as Conference 44 does not begin tournament play until Friday. So the Big Red traveled down to Parry McCluer for a make-up game with the long-time rival Blues.
Parry McCluer had won both games earlier at RHS, but tonight the Gladiators earned at least some redemption as they opened the evening with a satisfying 43-34 win in the JV game. This was significant to RHS fans because it means that the JVs beat everyone on the schedule at least once this year as they ended their season on an 8-game win streak with a sparkling 15-4 overall record. PM then won the varsity game 50-40.
The Blues jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the JV game and looked ready to run away with it. But Riverheads warmed up and trimmed the lead to 23-21 at the break. Elijah Dunlap then opened the second half scoring with a triple that put RHS ahead 24-23 and they never trailed again. They worked a deliberate offense to perfection down the stretch and essentially won the game by keeping the ball away from the Blues.
However, for the second JV game in a row, I just cannot let the officials go without a raspberry. Where do they find some of these people????
Tonight there was a play very early in the game that fortunately did not impact the results, but it defied all logic. PM was executing a fast break and a Riverheads player alertly caught up to the play and knocked the ball out of the guy's hand. The official closest to the play called out of bounds to PM, which certainly appeared to be the right call.
Yet the trail official came running up the floor from three-quarter court and insisted that it was a foul. It just made no sense that someone 55-60 feet away should be allowed to overrule the guy who was right on top of the play. One of Riverheads' more vocal fans had the floor all to himself and made sure the entire gym knew what he thought of the call. Although an outburst from a fan like that can sometimes lead to ridicule from the other team, in this case he was simply vocalizing what everybody in the building was thinking. Shortly after that, an unrelated call was made against PM, and you could even hear some of THEIR fans say "make up call." So they knew they had gotten an undeserved break on the previous one.
Anyway, as I said, it did not make a difference in the eventual outcome and once again the varsity officials were fine in that game. So congratulations to the Gladiator JVs on one of the most exciting seasons we have had in years on that level. Hopefully the nucleus of that team will stick with the program and improve with age.
The varsity game could be summed up pretty easily. RHS missed some easy shots in the very early going, causing them to fall behind, and it was just a steady uphill climb from there. Once in each half, the Big Red fell behind by 13 points, and both times they came back to within three points, but could never get that one big hoop they needed. The first time PM rushed out to a 22-9 lead only to see RHS get back to within 24-18 at the break.
The second of those two rallies straddled the third and fourth quarters. PM had built a 38-25 lead and looked like they might pull away to an easy win. Instead Riverheads went on a 10-0 spurt, capped by a Brett Hostetler triple and suddenly it was 38-35 midway through the fourth. But the Blues got a couple of timely threes of their own to hold off the rally and pull out the ten-point win.
Hostetler led the RHS scoring with 14 and he was joined in double figures by freshman Drew Bond, who finished with 11. Since I don't know the PM roster, I can't speculate on who led their scoring.
With the loss, RHS finishes the regular season at 4-15. Although nobody in the program would call that a satisfying season, when you put it into perspective and consider that there was only one senior on the team and three freshmen, and add that to the excitement caused by the JV team, the general thinking in Greenville will likely be that this season accomplished its goal of building toward the future.
The varsity team now hosts Stonewall Jackson Friday night in the opening round of the Conference 44 playoffs. The winner then travels to Altavista next Tuesday where a regional berth will be on the line.
Parry McCluer had won both games earlier at RHS, but tonight the Gladiators earned at least some redemption as they opened the evening with a satisfying 43-34 win in the JV game. This was significant to RHS fans because it means that the JVs beat everyone on the schedule at least once this year as they ended their season on an 8-game win streak with a sparkling 15-4 overall record. PM then won the varsity game 50-40.
The Blues jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the JV game and looked ready to run away with it. But Riverheads warmed up and trimmed the lead to 23-21 at the break. Elijah Dunlap then opened the second half scoring with a triple that put RHS ahead 24-23 and they never trailed again. They worked a deliberate offense to perfection down the stretch and essentially won the game by keeping the ball away from the Blues.
However, for the second JV game in a row, I just cannot let the officials go without a raspberry. Where do they find some of these people????
Tonight there was a play very early in the game that fortunately did not impact the results, but it defied all logic. PM was executing a fast break and a Riverheads player alertly caught up to the play and knocked the ball out of the guy's hand. The official closest to the play called out of bounds to PM, which certainly appeared to be the right call.
Yet the trail official came running up the floor from three-quarter court and insisted that it was a foul. It just made no sense that someone 55-60 feet away should be allowed to overrule the guy who was right on top of the play. One of Riverheads' more vocal fans had the floor all to himself and made sure the entire gym knew what he thought of the call. Although an outburst from a fan like that can sometimes lead to ridicule from the other team, in this case he was simply vocalizing what everybody in the building was thinking. Shortly after that, an unrelated call was made against PM, and you could even hear some of THEIR fans say "make up call." So they knew they had gotten an undeserved break on the previous one.
Anyway, as I said, it did not make a difference in the eventual outcome and once again the varsity officials were fine in that game. So congratulations to the Gladiator JVs on one of the most exciting seasons we have had in years on that level. Hopefully the nucleus of that team will stick with the program and improve with age.
The varsity game could be summed up pretty easily. RHS missed some easy shots in the very early going, causing them to fall behind, and it was just a steady uphill climb from there. Once in each half, the Big Red fell behind by 13 points, and both times they came back to within three points, but could never get that one big hoop they needed. The first time PM rushed out to a 22-9 lead only to see RHS get back to within 24-18 at the break.
The second of those two rallies straddled the third and fourth quarters. PM had built a 38-25 lead and looked like they might pull away to an easy win. Instead Riverheads went on a 10-0 spurt, capped by a Brett Hostetler triple and suddenly it was 38-35 midway through the fourth. But the Blues got a couple of timely threes of their own to hold off the rally and pull out the ten-point win.
Hostetler led the RHS scoring with 14 and he was joined in double figures by freshman Drew Bond, who finished with 11. Since I don't know the PM roster, I can't speculate on who led their scoring.
With the loss, RHS finishes the regular season at 4-15. Although nobody in the program would call that a satisfying season, when you put it into perspective and consider that there was only one senior on the team and three freshmen, and add that to the excitement caused by the JV team, the general thinking in Greenville will likely be that this season accomplished its goal of building toward the future.
The varsity team now hosts Stonewall Jackson Friday night in the opening round of the Conference 44 playoffs. The winner then travels to Altavista next Tuesday where a regional berth will be on the line.
