Robert E. Lee at Riverheads

[85straight]

End of 1: Lee 15-6
Vaughan 6 points leads Lee in a sloppy game, both teams turning the ball over.

 

[85straight]

Half: Lee 23-13
Vaughan with 8 points. Very ugly game from both teams. Riverheads might have more turnovers then points. Lee has plenty too, plus missed more FTs then made.

 

[85straight]

End of 3rd: Lee 49-23
Vaughan scores 11 points in the quarter, including two slams to lead Lee.

 

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Final: Lee 65-28
Lee scoring leaders: Vaughan 21, Castle 11, Pettiford 10
Riverheads scoring leaders: Painter 9, Bond 5, Fulton 4

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Thanks for hitting the highlights and making my job a little easier. First and foremost, and you may want to mark the date on the calendar, there was FINALLY a decent crowd at an area high school game! It was Senior Night at Riverheads, so that brought out more fans than usual, plus I think folks might have been intrigued to see what would happen in Lee's first-ever visit to Greenville, especially considering the two-point game between the two earlier in Staunton.

Lee brought a decent contingent of fans and Riverheads took a page out of the Luray playbook and set up a pep band. The radio station was here so add all that up and we had ourselves a decent atmosphere for a change. But as far as the game itself, as the updates above show, it was pretty much all Lee.

The Gladiators kept it reasonably close for the first half, and when Drew Bond knocked down a three midway through the second quarter, it was an eight-point game at 21-13. But Lee turned it on in the second half as Vaughan had at least three slams to excite the crowd.

Riverheads simply did not have the depth or the size to stay in this one, and when you add in the fatigue factor we have been talking about lately, it was just not a fair fight tonight. But as young as the Gladiators are, and with Lee graduating Vaughan and Williams this year, there should be some closer games between these two in the coming years.

So that four-games-in-five-days stretch is finally over for the Big Red, and even though they will have only one day's rest before traveling to Rockbridge on Thursday, at least that one will be an even playing field because the Cats also played Saturday and Monday and tonight. So in that one, the team that drags the least may come out on top. The Gladiators will then host winless Buffalo Gap on Saturday in their final home game and wrap up at Page next Tuesday.

Tonight's JV game was also an easy win for the Leemen 69-43, but the Gladiators at least had their moments in that one. Adam Painter started out hot from three-point range and the Big Red actually had a 17-16 lead midway through the second quarter. But then Lee's Ethan Painter, presumably no relation, caught fire and the visitors gradually pulled away.

Speaking of Ethan Painter, he is number 5 for Lee, and coincidentally the Gladiators have their own Ethan Painter, again presumably no relation, and he too wears number 5. He has been a crowd-pleaser all season and if you have seen Riverheads play, you know why. The program says he is 5'2" but that is probably a bit of an exaggeration. 4'6" and 75 pounds might be a little closer to reality, but in all seriousness, he is a little sparkplug and is a blast to watch.

He generally comes in late and doesn't play much, but pound for pound, he is one of the quickest and most fundamentally-sound players on the squad. Tonight he worked his way in among the Lee trees and got a contested lay-up to fall, he had both a rebound and a steal on the defensive end, and came close to an assist on another Gladiator possession. In addition to his entertaining level of play, Gladiator fans were happy to see some other seldom-used guys get some PT tonight and get in the scoring column. So congrats go out to D'ante Gray, Hunter Grubb, and Aiden Miller for their efforts tonight as they made an otherwise disappointing game fun to watch down the stretch.