The Stuarts Draft Cougars used their superior height and quickness advantage to build as much as a 21-point second half lead, but then held off a spirited Riverheads rally to post a 59-48 road victory tonight. The win enables the Cougars to keep pace with Staunton, as both are unbeaten in league play. Their two games against one another are scheduled for later in the season.
SD took charge of this one early as Harley Frame and Landon Graber each hit from beyond the arc to stake the visitors to an early 12-3 lead. They stretched that lead to as many as 15 early in the second quarter before RHS made its first rally, as an 8-2 run brought them back to within 7 at 26-19. The Cougars would go on to take a 33-22 lead into the locker room.
After that early success from behind the arc, most of the rest of the Cougar attack came inside. They were able to take advantage of their depth as Riverheads does not have anyone above 6'2" this year. It did not help matters much for the home team that each and every Cougar also seemed to have about four arms as they were constantly deflecting passes and disrupting the RHS offense.
The Cougars were able to stretch that halftime score out to 49-32 after three quarters, and when they scored the first four points of the final period, it looked as if they might pull away. But the Gladiators caught their second wind and for the rest of the game, they were the aggressors and more than held their own on the boards. As a result, they were able to trim the lead to as little as 8 before the final horn.
RHS coach Patrick Weller would have preferred a victory of course, but he was most likely still pleased with his team's refusal to quit and especially with the production from his bench. The Big Red was led in scoring by starter JP Crawford, who tossed in 16 points, including three triples.
However he was the only Big Red starter in double figures as Brody Phillips (10 hard-earned points in the paint), Ethan Mulcahy (7 points including a three) and Chase Donathan (6 points including an old-fashioned) each earned additional PT tonight and helped fuel those two Gladiator comeback attempts. Using the bench more than usual tonight could quite possibly have been an intentional strategy as Coach Weller may have wanted to keep his starters as fresh as possible with the aforementioned Staunton Storm paying a visit to Greenville tomorrow night.
As for the Cougars, they are a well-balanced and deep team, so I would not even hazard a guess as to who their top scorer was tonight. I would be inclined to think it was not either Frame or Graber because those two seemed to cool down after their initial baskets.
The Cougars also won the JV game tonight 41-26. In that one, they essentially outscored the Gladiators by a few points each quarter to gradually pull away to the win.
As mentioned the Big Red entertains Staunton tomorrow night so the home fans should then be able to form their own opinions as to which unbeaten district team is really the best. The Gladiators will then wrap up a busy week with a trip to Wilson on Friday.
SD took charge of this one early as Harley Frame and Landon Graber each hit from beyond the arc to stake the visitors to an early 12-3 lead. They stretched that lead to as many as 15 early in the second quarter before RHS made its first rally, as an 8-2 run brought them back to within 7 at 26-19. The Cougars would go on to take a 33-22 lead into the locker room.
After that early success from behind the arc, most of the rest of the Cougar attack came inside. They were able to take advantage of their depth as Riverheads does not have anyone above 6'2" this year. It did not help matters much for the home team that each and every Cougar also seemed to have about four arms as they were constantly deflecting passes and disrupting the RHS offense.
The Cougars were able to stretch that halftime score out to 49-32 after three quarters, and when they scored the first four points of the final period, it looked as if they might pull away. But the Gladiators caught their second wind and for the rest of the game, they were the aggressors and more than held their own on the boards. As a result, they were able to trim the lead to as little as 8 before the final horn.
RHS coach Patrick Weller would have preferred a victory of course, but he was most likely still pleased with his team's refusal to quit and especially with the production from his bench. The Big Red was led in scoring by starter JP Crawford, who tossed in 16 points, including three triples.
However he was the only Big Red starter in double figures as Brody Phillips (10 hard-earned points in the paint), Ethan Mulcahy (7 points including a three) and Chase Donathan (6 points including an old-fashioned) each earned additional PT tonight and helped fuel those two Gladiator comeback attempts. Using the bench more than usual tonight could quite possibly have been an intentional strategy as Coach Weller may have wanted to keep his starters as fresh as possible with the aforementioned Staunton Storm paying a visit to Greenville tomorrow night.
As for the Cougars, they are a well-balanced and deep team, so I would not even hazard a guess as to who their top scorer was tonight. I would be inclined to think it was not either Frame or Graber because those two seemed to cool down after their initial baskets.
The Cougars also won the JV game tonight 41-26. In that one, they essentially outscored the Gladiators by a few points each quarter to gradually pull away to the win.
As mentioned the Big Red entertains Staunton tomorrow night so the home fans should then be able to form their own opinions as to which unbeaten district team is really the best. The Gladiators will then wrap up a busy week with a trip to Wilson on Friday.
