Two teams that are each absolutely desperate to end their season on as positive a note as possible collided in Waynesboro tonight, where they fought tooth and nail and exchanged scoring spurts until the homestanding Little Giants escaped with the narrow one-point victory. With the win, Waynesboro has avoided the basement of the district standings and if they can in fact knock off Buffalo Gap next Monday, they could possibly finish as high as fifth place......not too shabby for a team that spent the vast majority of the season with just one win to its credit. But tonight's win, along with last night's mildly surprising 11-point decision over East Rockingham, they are now up to four wins on the season.
As for Riverheads, they are now destined to be the team that will finish in last place, but they just might be the best cellar-dwelling team you have seen in a while. Yes I know I am biased, but the best term to summarize this season for the Big Red would be "snakebit." Tonight's game marked the fifth time this season in which the Gladiators have lost by just one possession, and that does not include the earlier four-point loss to these same Giants, an eight-point December loss to a decent Rappahannock County team, and a pair of competitive losses to Stuarts Draft and Wilson in which they certainly did not embarrass themselves.
The season has certainly not been a total loss as they do have four wins, with a chance to pick up number five when Buffalo Gap visits on Friday for Senior Night. So if you add up all that, and throw in the fact that they were young this year with not a single senior on the team, not to mention being small compared to most teams, this could have possibly been about an eight-win season, or maybe even close to a break-even one. So if the guys stick with the program, and maybe go out and walk the halls and strongarm some big guy into going out for the team, maybe this time next year, we will be talking about a "winning season" in something other than football.
Speaking of "big guys", the difference-maker in tonight's game was Waynesboro's Zevion Robinson. I just checked the roster on the Shenandoah website and he is listed as 6'1". Uh huh, right? Back in seventh grade maybe!!
Whatever his true height, the Big Red had no match for him as he was able to work his way inside for a number of lay-ups and put backs. For a while it looked like the Gladiators had a chance to get him in foul trouble, which would have drastically affected the outcome, but he managed to survive the game with only four.
By the way, this would be a good time to mention that in my opinion, tonight's game was one of the best-officiated ones I have seen all year. There was very little controversy over any particular call and you just did not hear the usual squawking you hear from fans. I was also impressed with tonight's JV officials.
OK, about those scoring spurts I mentioned........Waynesboro had the first one as they scored off the opening tip (like within the first three seconds!) and in no time, they had exploded out to a 12-1 lead and appeared ready to send the Gladiators back home in body bags.
But Riverheads did not panic and in fact reeled off an impressive 14-point surge of its own to take a 15-12 lead. Robinson then closed out the first quarter with a bucket but missed the and-one, leaving RHS on top 15-14.
The second quarter was then nip and tuck, and ended in a 28 all deadlock. As mentioned, Robinson was controlling the paint whereas Riverheads was getting the job done mainly from outside, as they recorded five triples in the first half.
Waynesboro spurted again to open the second half, taking a 37-30 lead at the midway point and still leading 42-36 when the third quarter horn sounded. That set the stage for a final Riverheads rally and a frantic finish.
First of all the Gladiators recorded their sixth triple of the game and immediately cut their deficit in half but it came from a most unlikely source. Sophomore Holden Fitzgerald, who spends most of his time throwing his weight around in the lane and on the boards, stepped out behind the arc in one of those "what are you doing" moments and let it fly.
His shot found the bottom of the net to make it 42-39 and from that point on, it was dog eat dog. The Gladiators tied things up at 46-46 on a twisting driving lay-up by J P Crawford, but Waynesboro almost immediately answered with a three of its own.
The Gladiators were forced to foul and Waynesboro missed enough to leave the door open. With the score standing at 53-50, Riverheads had the final nine seconds of possession, but could not find an open three and a Crawford lay-up failed to draw a possible tying free throw.
The JV game tonight was also a tightly-contested affair. Waynesboro ultimately won 49-42 but coming down the stretch, Riverheads was within four at 44-40 and then had the next lay-up down in the cylinder before it bounced back out.
Just like the varsity game, it was easy to pinpoint the difference-maker in the game. It was not easy to SEE him, mind you, but easy to analyze his impact on the game. I am referring of course to the Little Giants' masked assassin, number 22. There were no rosters available so I can't name him by name, but I am sure the Giant fans know him well. Anyway, he came off the bench and immediately fired up the home team at both ends of the floor.
As already mentioned, the Gladiators will host Buffalo Gap Friday with a chance to go two out of three against the Bison this year and that would allow the Big Red some major closure to the season. RHS then closes the season Monday at Staunton, and well......we know what will happen there.
I believe Waynesboro is finished with its district schedule other than the aforementioned trip to Buffalo Gap, which I presume to be next Monday. Coach Spears is most likely feeling the same as the Gladiators' Coach Weller.........pleased with his team's work ethic and looking forward to next year.
As for Riverheads, they are now destined to be the team that will finish in last place, but they just might be the best cellar-dwelling team you have seen in a while. Yes I know I am biased, but the best term to summarize this season for the Big Red would be "snakebit." Tonight's game marked the fifth time this season in which the Gladiators have lost by just one possession, and that does not include the earlier four-point loss to these same Giants, an eight-point December loss to a decent Rappahannock County team, and a pair of competitive losses to Stuarts Draft and Wilson in which they certainly did not embarrass themselves.
The season has certainly not been a total loss as they do have four wins, with a chance to pick up number five when Buffalo Gap visits on Friday for Senior Night. So if you add up all that, and throw in the fact that they were young this year with not a single senior on the team, not to mention being small compared to most teams, this could have possibly been about an eight-win season, or maybe even close to a break-even one. So if the guys stick with the program, and maybe go out and walk the halls and strongarm some big guy into going out for the team, maybe this time next year, we will be talking about a "winning season" in something other than football.
Speaking of "big guys", the difference-maker in tonight's game was Waynesboro's Zevion Robinson. I just checked the roster on the Shenandoah website and he is listed as 6'1". Uh huh, right? Back in seventh grade maybe!!
Whatever his true height, the Big Red had no match for him as he was able to work his way inside for a number of lay-ups and put backs. For a while it looked like the Gladiators had a chance to get him in foul trouble, which would have drastically affected the outcome, but he managed to survive the game with only four.
By the way, this would be a good time to mention that in my opinion, tonight's game was one of the best-officiated ones I have seen all year. There was very little controversy over any particular call and you just did not hear the usual squawking you hear from fans. I was also impressed with tonight's JV officials.
OK, about those scoring spurts I mentioned........Waynesboro had the first one as they scored off the opening tip (like within the first three seconds!) and in no time, they had exploded out to a 12-1 lead and appeared ready to send the Gladiators back home in body bags.
But Riverheads did not panic and in fact reeled off an impressive 14-point surge of its own to take a 15-12 lead. Robinson then closed out the first quarter with a bucket but missed the and-one, leaving RHS on top 15-14.
The second quarter was then nip and tuck, and ended in a 28 all deadlock. As mentioned, Robinson was controlling the paint whereas Riverheads was getting the job done mainly from outside, as they recorded five triples in the first half.
Waynesboro spurted again to open the second half, taking a 37-30 lead at the midway point and still leading 42-36 when the third quarter horn sounded. That set the stage for a final Riverheads rally and a frantic finish.
First of all the Gladiators recorded their sixth triple of the game and immediately cut their deficit in half but it came from a most unlikely source. Sophomore Holden Fitzgerald, who spends most of his time throwing his weight around in the lane and on the boards, stepped out behind the arc in one of those "what are you doing" moments and let it fly.
His shot found the bottom of the net to make it 42-39 and from that point on, it was dog eat dog. The Gladiators tied things up at 46-46 on a twisting driving lay-up by J P Crawford, but Waynesboro almost immediately answered with a three of its own.
The Gladiators were forced to foul and Waynesboro missed enough to leave the door open. With the score standing at 53-50, Riverheads had the final nine seconds of possession, but could not find an open three and a Crawford lay-up failed to draw a possible tying free throw.
The JV game tonight was also a tightly-contested affair. Waynesboro ultimately won 49-42 but coming down the stretch, Riverheads was within four at 44-40 and then had the next lay-up down in the cylinder before it bounced back out.
Just like the varsity game, it was easy to pinpoint the difference-maker in the game. It was not easy to SEE him, mind you, but easy to analyze his impact on the game. I am referring of course to the Little Giants' masked assassin, number 22. There were no rosters available so I can't name him by name, but I am sure the Giant fans know him well. Anyway, he came off the bench and immediately fired up the home team at both ends of the floor.
As already mentioned, the Gladiators will host Buffalo Gap Friday with a chance to go two out of three against the Bison this year and that would allow the Big Red some major closure to the season. RHS then closes the season Monday at Staunton, and well......we know what will happen there.
I believe Waynesboro is finished with its district schedule other than the aforementioned trip to Buffalo Gap, which I presume to be next Monday. Coach Spears is most likely feeling the same as the Gladiators' Coach Weller.........pleased with his team's work ethic and looking forward to next year.
