Tonight's win for the home team didn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, except for perhaps the final margin of 100-51. After all the Cougars have a deep 15-man roster and use their constant harassing defense and rapid-fire Grinnell offense that either works or doesn't work, depending on how well the threes fall; whereas Riverheads, as I have documented on here all season long, is a young, inexperienced team that is building for the future. (In fact when I get to the JV game, you may get an idea of just how bright that RHS future really is!)
So from the Cougars' perspective, Riverheads was the perfect team for them to play, as the 10-member Gladiator roster was both outnumbered and overwhelmed. But we have been here/done that before, so don't be surprised if the Big Red gives a much better effort later in the season. Hopefully the RHS coaching staff has already pointed out to the team that they have won the last three times the Cougars came to Greenville, and in one of those cases, it came after a 100 point Cougar effort in SD. So the Cougars could be making a mistake if they go into that next one just automatically assuming they will be able to duplicate tonight's win.
The Gladiators had a brief 4-2 lead and still were within 8 before the Cougars opened it up with a 32-point second quarter blitz. According to newspapers, 13 of the 15 Cougars scored as they constantly shuffled a new five in and out of the game, sometimes as frequently as 30 seconds after the last substitution. So to give credit where it is due, that frenetic pace works for them and they are having another decent season, despite the graduation of one of their best players in years, Jamal Simpson.
For RHS, it will be best to put this one in the rear view mirror until it is time to prepare for the re-match in early February. Hopefully the injuries suffered tonight by starters Brett Hostetler and Dakota Cave can be overcome by a good icing or hot-tub soaking as the case may be, since the Gladiators have back to back games at home Monday and Tuesday.
OK, about the JV game. The Gladiators continue to amaze as they pulled off another miracle comeback and squeezed out a 59-56 win, despite trailing by 13 at the half and still being behind 56-45 with 3:45 to go on the clock. To accomplish that final 14-0 push, the Big Red took advantage of an unusual team foul situation and pounded the ball inside to either get the easy bucket or draw the foul.
The foul situation at that 3:45 time-out was 7-0, so it played right into RHS' hands. Meanwhile the Cougar Cubs were apparently sooooooooo accustomed to running their Grinnell offense that they either didn't know how to go to a delay game or simply chose not to do so. Instead they continued to jack up one three after another, some of which were coming from impossible range. If they keep time of possession stats in high school ball, the Big Red probably had the ball for 3 minutes of that final 3:45 due to the Cougars' impatience on offense.
Those long-range shots were not going in and Riverheads was getting every rebound, all of which contributed to the huge comeback. Grant Painter, who led all scorers with 22, finally put RHS ahead 57-56 around the 30-second mark. After a Cougar miss and one final time-out, he then got behind the defense and scored on an easy breakaway lay-up with about 15 seconds left to account for the final margin.
With Riverheads still having only two team fouls at that time, everybody in the stands knew what was coming and the Big Red wrapped up the win by fouling every time the Cougars in-bounded the ball until the time ran out. So in the final analysis, even though SD's style of play won them the varsity game handily, in this case that same style directly contributed to their defeat.
This win leaves RHS at 7-2 on the season and the most exciting thing about their success is that they are doing it with almost every major contributor being an eighth-grader. If they stick with it as a team, the sky is the limit for their potential by the time they hit varsity play.
As mentioned above, RHS now returns home on Monday against Parry McCluer. The Gladiators would like nothing better than to get back on the winning track in that one, and maybe carry it over into Tuesday when Luray visits the Coliseum.
So from the Cougars' perspective, Riverheads was the perfect team for them to play, as the 10-member Gladiator roster was both outnumbered and overwhelmed. But we have been here/done that before, so don't be surprised if the Big Red gives a much better effort later in the season. Hopefully the RHS coaching staff has already pointed out to the team that they have won the last three times the Cougars came to Greenville, and in one of those cases, it came after a 100 point Cougar effort in SD. So the Cougars could be making a mistake if they go into that next one just automatically assuming they will be able to duplicate tonight's win.
The Gladiators had a brief 4-2 lead and still were within 8 before the Cougars opened it up with a 32-point second quarter blitz. According to newspapers, 13 of the 15 Cougars scored as they constantly shuffled a new five in and out of the game, sometimes as frequently as 30 seconds after the last substitution. So to give credit where it is due, that frenetic pace works for them and they are having another decent season, despite the graduation of one of their best players in years, Jamal Simpson.
For RHS, it will be best to put this one in the rear view mirror until it is time to prepare for the re-match in early February. Hopefully the injuries suffered tonight by starters Brett Hostetler and Dakota Cave can be overcome by a good icing or hot-tub soaking as the case may be, since the Gladiators have back to back games at home Monday and Tuesday.
OK, about the JV game. The Gladiators continue to amaze as they pulled off another miracle comeback and squeezed out a 59-56 win, despite trailing by 13 at the half and still being behind 56-45 with 3:45 to go on the clock. To accomplish that final 14-0 push, the Big Red took advantage of an unusual team foul situation and pounded the ball inside to either get the easy bucket or draw the foul.
The foul situation at that 3:45 time-out was 7-0, so it played right into RHS' hands. Meanwhile the Cougar Cubs were apparently sooooooooo accustomed to running their Grinnell offense that they either didn't know how to go to a delay game or simply chose not to do so. Instead they continued to jack up one three after another, some of which were coming from impossible range. If they keep time of possession stats in high school ball, the Big Red probably had the ball for 3 minutes of that final 3:45 due to the Cougars' impatience on offense.
Those long-range shots were not going in and Riverheads was getting every rebound, all of which contributed to the huge comeback. Grant Painter, who led all scorers with 22, finally put RHS ahead 57-56 around the 30-second mark. After a Cougar miss and one final time-out, he then got behind the defense and scored on an easy breakaway lay-up with about 15 seconds left to account for the final margin.
With Riverheads still having only two team fouls at that time, everybody in the stands knew what was coming and the Big Red wrapped up the win by fouling every time the Cougars in-bounded the ball until the time ran out. So in the final analysis, even though SD's style of play won them the varsity game handily, in this case that same style directly contributed to their defeat.
This win leaves RHS at 7-2 on the season and the most exciting thing about their success is that they are doing it with almost every major contributor being an eighth-grader. If they stick with it as a team, the sky is the limit for their potential by the time they hit varsity play.
As mentioned above, RHS now returns home on Monday against Parry McCluer. The Gladiators would like nothing better than to get back on the winning track in that one, and maybe carry it over into Tuesday when Luray visits the Coliseum.
