Stuarts Draft 82 Riverheads 65 nm
- Thread starter kwhs95fan
- Start date
On TV they might call it "spurtability," but whatever it was at Stuarts Draft tonight, the Cougars used it to break open a still-in-doubt game and pull away from the Gladiators. Riverheads was still at least mathematically in the game midway through the third quarter, trailing 59-47, especially considering that they have shown a tendency to come back this season from big deficits.
But it was not in the cards tonight because instead of a Big Red rally to close the gap, the Cougars turned up the screws defensively, forced one turnover after another, buried one triple after another (they call it 3diculous over there) and in what seemed like 30 seconds or less, the lead ballooned to 71-47 and it was all over but the shouting. Riverheads did regain its composure somewhat and trim the lead back down to 13 at one point but with seemingly every Cougar on the squad hitting from behind the arc, the lead was too much to overcome. As a result, SD finishes its first swing through the district schedule at 5-0, whereas Riverheads is 1-4 after that first cycle. Worse yet for the Gladiators...Fort Defiance stunned Buffalo Gap tonight so the Indians are now tied with RHS at that 1-4 mark. (In a day or two I will have some thoughts about how the second cycle might turn out.)
The irony of tonight's loss for the Gladiators is that the Painter brothers, Grant and Adam, had their biggest games of the season, combining for 45 points. Grant tied his season high with 25 and I believe Adam's 20 tonight is not only a season high but a career high for the junior. The only problem was that only two other Gladiators dented the scoring column as Zach Adams added 12 and Honor Robinson 8. The other six Gladiators all saw action and tried mightily but it was just one of those nights where point-blank shots would pop in and back out and if you have never seen the Cougars in action, you have NO idea how much they harass you on defense and how hard they contest every single pass.
They also rotate a fresh five into the game about every minute or two, and with 16 guys on the squad, they can foul as much as they want to, and if 4, 5, 6 of them foul out, no big deal. (Not that any did tonight but you get the idea.) The simplest way to put it is they wear the living daylights out of you and if a team is not as deep as they are numerically, it can be especially tough. SD needed a little time this season to make the transition from football to basketball after their extended post-season run, but they seem to have found their groove now and will be the team to beat down the stretch and will cause some problems come playoff time.
In the early going, it looked as if Riverheads was going to try to match the Cougars from behind the arc, as each Painter brother and Adams knocked one down within the first half of the first quarter. Riverheads took an early 8-3 advantage and was still hanging around at 16-14 when the first Cougar spurt put the home team ahead 23-16 at the first quarter horn.
The game was still tight at 28-25 when SD put on another little run to make it 43-30 but Riverheads scored the final six of the half to pull within 43-36 at the break. After a Cougar triple opened the third quarter, Adam Painter, who usually prefers to bomb away from outside, instead drove the lane on three consecutive possessions to put RHS right back in contention at 46-42. But yet another Cougar run made it 54-42 and the Gladiators never seriously threatened again. The big surge I described above, which also featured a one-handed slam by Freddie Watkins, came soon afterwards.
Things were not a total loss for the Gladiators tonight as they led from wire to wire and won the JV game 64-55. However, things got interesting down the stretch as the Cougars, who had been ice cold from behind the arc and scored only 15 points in the first half, roared back from a 22-point hole and trimmed it all the way down to 3 before Riverheads put them away on an 8-1 run.
If you happen to see a media account of that game, I do take issue with one thing I have read. One local paper says that the Gladiators were led by Bennett Dunlap and Levi Byer with 23 and 22 respectively, which would only leave 19 for the rest of the team to score. Granted those two had their usual fine game, but we must have a case of mistaken identity at work here because from a Riverheads standpoint, that game was all about the Big Red's burly freshman center Noah Williams. Stuarts Draft had absolutely no answer for him tonight and although I don't keep scores for the JV games, I would have guessed he had 25 or more. So I think one of the above point totals should really be credited to him. If anyone can back me up on that, please do so in order to give the young man his proper credit.
I have also read that the Lady Gladiators lost at home to Stuarts Draft. No details on that one so I have no idea if Hannah Grubb is still out injured. Next up for the various teams will be RHS vs. Wilson Friday with the boys home and the girls away, whereas the SD boys will entertain the no-doubt hopping mad Bison while their girls head out to the Gap.
And can have an amen for the UVa Cavaliers and much more importantly, keep the Kobe Bryant family in your prayers as they deal with that tragedy.
But it was not in the cards tonight because instead of a Big Red rally to close the gap, the Cougars turned up the screws defensively, forced one turnover after another, buried one triple after another (they call it 3diculous over there) and in what seemed like 30 seconds or less, the lead ballooned to 71-47 and it was all over but the shouting. Riverheads did regain its composure somewhat and trim the lead back down to 13 at one point but with seemingly every Cougar on the squad hitting from behind the arc, the lead was too much to overcome. As a result, SD finishes its first swing through the district schedule at 5-0, whereas Riverheads is 1-4 after that first cycle. Worse yet for the Gladiators...Fort Defiance stunned Buffalo Gap tonight so the Indians are now tied with RHS at that 1-4 mark. (In a day or two I will have some thoughts about how the second cycle might turn out.)
The irony of tonight's loss for the Gladiators is that the Painter brothers, Grant and Adam, had their biggest games of the season, combining for 45 points. Grant tied his season high with 25 and I believe Adam's 20 tonight is not only a season high but a career high for the junior. The only problem was that only two other Gladiators dented the scoring column as Zach Adams added 12 and Honor Robinson 8. The other six Gladiators all saw action and tried mightily but it was just one of those nights where point-blank shots would pop in and back out and if you have never seen the Cougars in action, you have NO idea how much they harass you on defense and how hard they contest every single pass.
They also rotate a fresh five into the game about every minute or two, and with 16 guys on the squad, they can foul as much as they want to, and if 4, 5, 6 of them foul out, no big deal. (Not that any did tonight but you get the idea.) The simplest way to put it is they wear the living daylights out of you and if a team is not as deep as they are numerically, it can be especially tough. SD needed a little time this season to make the transition from football to basketball after their extended post-season run, but they seem to have found their groove now and will be the team to beat down the stretch and will cause some problems come playoff time.
In the early going, it looked as if Riverheads was going to try to match the Cougars from behind the arc, as each Painter brother and Adams knocked one down within the first half of the first quarter. Riverheads took an early 8-3 advantage and was still hanging around at 16-14 when the first Cougar spurt put the home team ahead 23-16 at the first quarter horn.
The game was still tight at 28-25 when SD put on another little run to make it 43-30 but Riverheads scored the final six of the half to pull within 43-36 at the break. After a Cougar triple opened the third quarter, Adam Painter, who usually prefers to bomb away from outside, instead drove the lane on three consecutive possessions to put RHS right back in contention at 46-42. But yet another Cougar run made it 54-42 and the Gladiators never seriously threatened again. The big surge I described above, which also featured a one-handed slam by Freddie Watkins, came soon afterwards.
Things were not a total loss for the Gladiators tonight as they led from wire to wire and won the JV game 64-55. However, things got interesting down the stretch as the Cougars, who had been ice cold from behind the arc and scored only 15 points in the first half, roared back from a 22-point hole and trimmed it all the way down to 3 before Riverheads put them away on an 8-1 run.
If you happen to see a media account of that game, I do take issue with one thing I have read. One local paper says that the Gladiators were led by Bennett Dunlap and Levi Byer with 23 and 22 respectively, which would only leave 19 for the rest of the team to score. Granted those two had their usual fine game, but we must have a case of mistaken identity at work here because from a Riverheads standpoint, that game was all about the Big Red's burly freshman center Noah Williams. Stuarts Draft had absolutely no answer for him tonight and although I don't keep scores for the JV games, I would have guessed he had 25 or more. So I think one of the above point totals should really be credited to him. If anyone can back me up on that, please do so in order to give the young man his proper credit.
I have also read that the Lady Gladiators lost at home to Stuarts Draft. No details on that one so I have no idea if Hannah Grubb is still out injured. Next up for the various teams will be RHS vs. Wilson Friday with the boys home and the girls away, whereas the SD boys will entertain the no-doubt hopping mad Bison while their girls head out to the Gap.
And can have an amen for the UVa Cavaliers and much more importantly, keep the Kobe Bryant family in your prayers as they deal with that tragedy.
