As mentioned in my preview of tonight's game, this one was going to give one team its first district win of the season and continue the frustrations of the other team. For the first three quarters, it appeared as if the homestanding Gladiators would be the ones celebrating as they enjoyed as much as a 21-point lead (32-11 early in the third quarter) and STILL led 39-22 heading into the fourth before the Little Giants caught fire and somehow rallied for a 45-41 win.
They managed the comeback simply by stepping up the defense and creating a wide variety of steals, blocking shots, clogging up the middle, and denying the three point shot after RHS had drained five of them through the first three quarters. Each time the Giants would regain possession in that fourth quarter, they would find a way to score. I don't recall them hitting especially well from three point range but they were hitting from everywhere else and also drawing fouls, which of course stopped the clock and worked in their favor.
I am not sure about this detail but I think Riverheads even scored first in the fourth to go up 41-22. If so, then that means that Waynesboro won this game by scoring the final 23 points and holding Riverheads scoreless for what must have been about the final seven minutes. I distinctly remember when they scored to make it 41-25, and I thought to myself "hmmm that is the closest they have been in a while." But then it was 27, then 29 and even when the Giants closed the margin to 10 at 41-31, I still thought the Big Red would come back to life and hold on.
But Waynesboro kept charging and finally tied the score on a pair of foul shots. Riverheads then failed to score and on their next possession, the Giants took their first lead of the game at 43-41. One final RHS turnover followed and the final margin came on a pair of charity tosses as they didn't even leave the Gladiators a chance for a tying basket.
For the victorious Giants, this will be a huge confidence boost and they might even do the same thing to someone else. Of course when Riverheads travels there toward the end of the season, the Giants will hope to sweep the series, regardless of what they have done between now and then. Riverheads on the other hand will remember this one and make a plan to even things up that night in early February.
As for how Riverheads will react now to tonight's outcome, the best thing any team can ever do is put any loss behind them as quickly as possible, congratulate the guys who DID step up to the plate (in this case that would be Henley Dunlap and JP Crawford with two triples each, and reserve guard Ethan Mulcahy who played his best game of the year and hit the fifth Gladiator triple) and immediately start to focus on the next game, which will be at Buffalo Gap. The Gladiators already own one victory over the Bison, and although the Gap did manage to keep Fort Defiance from hitting the century mark tonight (that final was 97-64), at least the Bison will be nursing some wounds of their own Tuesday night. Of course we have that snow forecast to worry about but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
Waynesboro made it a clean sweep on the evening posting a 47-42 JV win. The Giants literally led that one from start to finish and showed remarkable composure because they took an early 10 point lead and then fought off repeated comebacks from Riverheads without losing their poise. The Gladiators came back with a strong second half from Chris Dotson and tied the score at 29-29 and later were within a single point, but they just could not get over the hump. Ironically the "littlest" Little Giant, 5'3" Kristopher Woods, who cannot POSSIBLY weigh more than 70 pounds, provided some of the key points down the stretch in that victory.
They managed the comeback simply by stepping up the defense and creating a wide variety of steals, blocking shots, clogging up the middle, and denying the three point shot after RHS had drained five of them through the first three quarters. Each time the Giants would regain possession in that fourth quarter, they would find a way to score. I don't recall them hitting especially well from three point range but they were hitting from everywhere else and also drawing fouls, which of course stopped the clock and worked in their favor.
I am not sure about this detail but I think Riverheads even scored first in the fourth to go up 41-22. If so, then that means that Waynesboro won this game by scoring the final 23 points and holding Riverheads scoreless for what must have been about the final seven minutes. I distinctly remember when they scored to make it 41-25, and I thought to myself "hmmm that is the closest they have been in a while." But then it was 27, then 29 and even when the Giants closed the margin to 10 at 41-31, I still thought the Big Red would come back to life and hold on.
But Waynesboro kept charging and finally tied the score on a pair of foul shots. Riverheads then failed to score and on their next possession, the Giants took their first lead of the game at 43-41. One final RHS turnover followed and the final margin came on a pair of charity tosses as they didn't even leave the Gladiators a chance for a tying basket.
For the victorious Giants, this will be a huge confidence boost and they might even do the same thing to someone else. Of course when Riverheads travels there toward the end of the season, the Giants will hope to sweep the series, regardless of what they have done between now and then. Riverheads on the other hand will remember this one and make a plan to even things up that night in early February.
As for how Riverheads will react now to tonight's outcome, the best thing any team can ever do is put any loss behind them as quickly as possible, congratulate the guys who DID step up to the plate (in this case that would be Henley Dunlap and JP Crawford with two triples each, and reserve guard Ethan Mulcahy who played his best game of the year and hit the fifth Gladiator triple) and immediately start to focus on the next game, which will be at Buffalo Gap. The Gladiators already own one victory over the Bison, and although the Gap did manage to keep Fort Defiance from hitting the century mark tonight (that final was 97-64), at least the Bison will be nursing some wounds of their own Tuesday night. Of course we have that snow forecast to worry about but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
Waynesboro made it a clean sweep on the evening posting a 47-42 JV win. The Giants literally led that one from start to finish and showed remarkable composure because they took an early 10 point lead and then fought off repeated comebacks from Riverheads without losing their poise. The Gladiators came back with a strong second half from Chris Dotson and tied the score at 29-29 and later were within a single point, but they just could not get over the hump. Ironically the "littlest" Little Giant, 5'3" Kristopher Woods, who cannot POSSIBLY weigh more than 70 pounds, provided some of the key points down the stretch in that victory.
