The Cougars used their superior size, depth, and quickness to put the visiting Gladiators in an early hole, and although RHS rallied briefly in the second quarter, the home team quickly reassumed control and coasted to a 62-38 victory. For all practical purposes the margin of victory and therefore the game itself was settled in about the first 4 minutes as SD scored the first 13 points out of the gate and stretched the lead to 21-2 before Riverheads could get untracked.
Once the Gladiators finally got into the flow of the game, they stayed reasonably close until about the midway point of the second quarter. The Big Red trailed 23-7 after that miserable first quarter, but Henley Dunlap and Jackson Brammer found the range as RHS opened the second period on a 10-2 run of their own to close the gap to 25-17. They were still within striking distance at 27-19 before the Cougars scored the last five points of the half.
Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly erased when SD's Derrick Moore opened the second half with back to back triples from the same spot. Then to make matters worse for the Gladiators, other Cougars started to connect as well and at times they almost looked like the old Threediculous Cougar squad from a few years ago. Even their big man, 6'6" Harley Frame, hit one.
His size and that of the other Cougars were the real key to the victory. In addition to him, the Cougars have two guys checking in at 6'4" and six more standing 6' or better. By contrast, Riverheads' tallest player is 6'2" and they only have one that size. Three others measure 6' to 6'1" but they were just never able to compete enough on the boards to stay in contention.
As the season progresses, rebounding will be a key issue for Riverheads but maybe they can counter-balance that weakness with some better outside shooting. For now, they need to enjoy the nine-day break they will get until hosting their two-day Holiday Tournament on the 28th and 29th. The competition will not be as stiff in that one and hopefully they can pick up a win or two in that event to boost their confidence before district play resumes in January.
The Cougars also tasted victory in the JV game tonight as they scored the first nine points of the second half to break open a close game and coast to a 53-34 win over the Junior Gladiators. Both teams had numbers issues tonight as Riverheads was missing a key starter from its nine-man team, and SD only dressed out 9 guys from a printed roster that listed 12. We can only assume that each team has some injuries or illness situations. Fortunately the refs did not call that one close enough for anyone to get in serious foul trouble.
To add insult to injury, at least for yours truly, the evening got worse when I came home and settled in to watch my DVR of the Virginia/Memphis game. That one too started off with the home team scoring the first 13 points. UVa then came to life and closed to within 27-20 when the stream cut completely off. I do mean OFF, as in completely gone, and as of an hour or so later, I cannot even watch anything else either. Moral of the story.........if we are going to be forced into all this modern technology, the least they can do it make it work right!!
So hopefully those of you who were at home got to see that game uninterrupted and of course it would be nice if the Wahoos were able to rally back and win it. I guess I will find out someway somehow eventually.
Meanwhile, happy holidays to everyone and I guess this will do it for me until it is time to report on the aforementioned Riverheads Holiday Tournament.
Once the Gladiators finally got into the flow of the game, they stayed reasonably close until about the midway point of the second quarter. The Big Red trailed 23-7 after that miserable first quarter, but Henley Dunlap and Jackson Brammer found the range as RHS opened the second period on a 10-2 run of their own to close the gap to 25-17. They were still within striking distance at 27-19 before the Cougars scored the last five points of the half.
Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly erased when SD's Derrick Moore opened the second half with back to back triples from the same spot. Then to make matters worse for the Gladiators, other Cougars started to connect as well and at times they almost looked like the old Threediculous Cougar squad from a few years ago. Even their big man, 6'6" Harley Frame, hit one.
His size and that of the other Cougars were the real key to the victory. In addition to him, the Cougars have two guys checking in at 6'4" and six more standing 6' or better. By contrast, Riverheads' tallest player is 6'2" and they only have one that size. Three others measure 6' to 6'1" but they were just never able to compete enough on the boards to stay in contention.
As the season progresses, rebounding will be a key issue for Riverheads but maybe they can counter-balance that weakness with some better outside shooting. For now, they need to enjoy the nine-day break they will get until hosting their two-day Holiday Tournament on the 28th and 29th. The competition will not be as stiff in that one and hopefully they can pick up a win or two in that event to boost their confidence before district play resumes in January.
The Cougars also tasted victory in the JV game tonight as they scored the first nine points of the second half to break open a close game and coast to a 53-34 win over the Junior Gladiators. Both teams had numbers issues tonight as Riverheads was missing a key starter from its nine-man team, and SD only dressed out 9 guys from a printed roster that listed 12. We can only assume that each team has some injuries or illness situations. Fortunately the refs did not call that one close enough for anyone to get in serious foul trouble.
To add insult to injury, at least for yours truly, the evening got worse when I came home and settled in to watch my DVR of the Virginia/Memphis game. That one too started off with the home team scoring the first 13 points. UVa then came to life and closed to within 27-20 when the stream cut completely off. I do mean OFF, as in completely gone, and as of an hour or so later, I cannot even watch anything else either. Moral of the story.........if we are going to be forced into all this modern technology, the least they can do it make it work right!!
So hopefully those of you who were at home got to see that game uninterrupted and of course it would be nice if the Wahoos were able to rally back and win it. I guess I will find out someway somehow eventually.
Meanwhile, happy holidays to everyone and I guess this will do it for me until it is time to report on the aforementioned Riverheads Holiday Tournament.
