The Staunton Storm proved tonight why they are the three-time Shenandoah District champs as they blitzed the visiting Gladiators with a 26-0 spree straddling the first two quarters and never looked back on the way to a statement 108-54 win in the Paul Hatcher gym. It was Senior Night so perhaps that was extra motivation for the Storm to pound the Gladiators so relentlessly but even after the game was clearly decided, they kept up the pressure and intensity, especially once they realized that a triple-digit score was within reach.
Ironically Riverheads had gotten off to a good start in the game as they initially seemed comfortable in the house that Paul built, a place they have actually won twice before in the fairly short history of the series. The Big Red hit a pair of triples in the first minute of the game to jump ahead 6-0 and still led 13-12 when the wheels fell off.
Staunton ramped up the pressure and Joaqin Bell in particular could not miss as he hit some ridiculous threes during that big surge. By the time RHS scored again, Staunton was already approaching 40 points. Once Riverheads finally scored again midway through the second quarter, they actually doubled their own score and went into the locker room with 28 on their side. Trouble is Staunton was already at 55.
The assumption at that point was that the running clock would soon be in effect but it was not used with any real consistency in the second half, which of course helped The Storm achieve their goal of breaking the century mark. They hit for 32 points in each of the middle two quarters and were already at 87 heading into the final period. Interestingly the home crowd did not go as ballistic as I might have expected when they hit the mark on a Bell driving lay-up.
Although the 108 points obviously shows that the Staunton offense was clicking on all cylinders, this was just as much a defensive win, which I am guessing Coach Madden prides himself on, as of course Hatcher always did. Even when things got to the embarrassment stage, every Staunton player was contesting, and usually stealing, every Riverheads pass and even when the Gladiators would appear to have a rebound firmly corralled, a quick Staunton hand or two would snatch it back.
To show how much The Storm wanted this one, in the third quarter when the margin was already well over 40, they got a bench technical for protesting a call.
Ironically Riverheads had gotten off to a good start in the game as they initially seemed comfortable in the house that Paul built, a place they have actually won twice before in the fairly short history of the series. The Big Red hit a pair of triples in the first minute of the game to jump ahead 6-0 and still led 13-12 when the wheels fell off.
Staunton ramped up the pressure and Joaqin Bell in particular could not miss as he hit some ridiculous threes during that big surge. By the time RHS scored again, Staunton was already approaching 40 points. Once Riverheads finally scored again midway through the second quarter, they actually doubled their own score and went into the locker room with 28 on their side. Trouble is Staunton was already at 55.
The assumption at that point was that the running clock would soon be in effect but it was not used with any real consistency in the second half, which of course helped The Storm achieve their goal of breaking the century mark. They hit for 32 points in each of the middle two quarters and were already at 87 heading into the final period. Interestingly the home crowd did not go as ballistic as I might have expected when they hit the mark on a Bell driving lay-up.
Although the 108 points obviously shows that the Staunton offense was clicking on all cylinders, this was just as much a defensive win, which I am guessing Coach Madden prides himself on, as of course Hatcher always did. Even when things got to the embarrassment stage, every Staunton player was contesting, and usually stealing, every Riverheads pass and even when the Gladiators would appear to have a rebound firmly corralled, a quick Staunton hand or two would snatch it back.
To show how much The Storm wanted this one, in the third quarter when the margin was already well over 40, they got a bench technical for protesting a call.
