Considering the odd pattern the Shenandoah teams have followed this year with a ton of wins by visiting teams, this one shouldn't have surprised anyone tonight. After all, Riverheads had won by 14 at Wilson, so OF COURSE the Hornets were going to win this one tonight by 15! Weird season we have had here folks!
This one was essentially settled in about the first 3 minutes. Wilson jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a pair of baskets from Mack Cullen and the first of Buck Leavell's three first-half triples. The Gladiators meanwhile came out cold and did not score until the 1:35 mark of the first quarter. That slow start put the Big Red in a hole that they just could not escape.
Kendall Casto finally broke free for a back-door lay-up to get RHS off the goose egg. Zach Roberts nailed a triple shortly after that to make the score 9-5, but that was as close as Riverheads would get all night.
Wilson stretched the lead out to 9 early in the second quarter as Leavell hit from behind the arc twice more. The Hornets took their first double-digit lead at 22-12 before Harrison Schaefer connected for his first triple of the season to send the Gladiators to the locker room on a positive note, as they trailed only 22-15 despite their slow start.
However, any thoughts of a Big Red comeback were squelched early in the third quarter when the Hornets came out of the gate and got six quick points from an unlikely source, Justin Leary. He had been quiet to that point, as Cullen and Leavell had combined for 18 of Wilson's 22 first-half points. But he went hard to the boards and scored three quick hoops on strong moves that included at least one offensive rebound for a stickback.
His burst put Wilson up 28-15 and Riverheads never got closer than 8 after that. The Gladiators did have one little sequence that excited the fans in the third quarter as Ben Agnor knocked down a long jumper that was originally thought to be a three but was only counted as two. He then trapped a Wilson player, stole the ball and flipped it over his shoulder to Graham Cash for an alert lay-up. Wilson then quickly scored to regain control and the Gladiators never threatened again.
An odd factor about this game was that it was actually played at a pretty fast pace, despite the low final score. Each team tried to run, but had little success converting the fast breaks as each defense kept the other in check. Wilson alternated its twin towers of 7'1" Dean Shaner and 6'8" Justin Kyle, and on rare occasions had both in the game at once, but they had very little impact, combining for only six total points. Instead it was the Cullen/Leavell show in the first half before Leary did his thing in the second half.
For Riverheads, only Roberts approached double digits as he finished with 9. Four other players scored either four or five each.
So a disappointing evening for the Big Red, but we will take our victories where we can find them and tonight that was in the JV game as Riverheads finally won one of those close games that had been eluding them recently.
Gladiator big man Austin Craft had his best game of the season, scoring 13 points and controlling the boards, while the duo of Bradley Roberts and Drew Bond combined for four three pointers. That trio accounted for about 38 of the points in the Gladiators' 43-40 victory.
Riverheads is now 9-10 and hits the road twice next week to face teams they have already beaten at home. On Tuesday they travel to Stonewall Jackson where the Generals are likely to be sky high after picking up their first win of the season (they won 58-53 tonight at Buffalo Gap); and on Friday Riverheads will visit Stuarts Draft, which was soundly beaten at home tonight by Page County. The Gladiators then have one final regular-season home game, a Senior Night date on Monday, February 9th, with Luray.
As for Wilson, they have a hectic upcoming schedule as they are still making up delayed or postponed games related to either the weather or their extended football season. I think they are 10-5 after tonight's win.
This one was essentially settled in about the first 3 minutes. Wilson jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a pair of baskets from Mack Cullen and the first of Buck Leavell's three first-half triples. The Gladiators meanwhile came out cold and did not score until the 1:35 mark of the first quarter. That slow start put the Big Red in a hole that they just could not escape.
Kendall Casto finally broke free for a back-door lay-up to get RHS off the goose egg. Zach Roberts nailed a triple shortly after that to make the score 9-5, but that was as close as Riverheads would get all night.
Wilson stretched the lead out to 9 early in the second quarter as Leavell hit from behind the arc twice more. The Hornets took their first double-digit lead at 22-12 before Harrison Schaefer connected for his first triple of the season to send the Gladiators to the locker room on a positive note, as they trailed only 22-15 despite their slow start.
However, any thoughts of a Big Red comeback were squelched early in the third quarter when the Hornets came out of the gate and got six quick points from an unlikely source, Justin Leary. He had been quiet to that point, as Cullen and Leavell had combined for 18 of Wilson's 22 first-half points. But he went hard to the boards and scored three quick hoops on strong moves that included at least one offensive rebound for a stickback.
His burst put Wilson up 28-15 and Riverheads never got closer than 8 after that. The Gladiators did have one little sequence that excited the fans in the third quarter as Ben Agnor knocked down a long jumper that was originally thought to be a three but was only counted as two. He then trapped a Wilson player, stole the ball and flipped it over his shoulder to Graham Cash for an alert lay-up. Wilson then quickly scored to regain control and the Gladiators never threatened again.
An odd factor about this game was that it was actually played at a pretty fast pace, despite the low final score. Each team tried to run, but had little success converting the fast breaks as each defense kept the other in check. Wilson alternated its twin towers of 7'1" Dean Shaner and 6'8" Justin Kyle, and on rare occasions had both in the game at once, but they had very little impact, combining for only six total points. Instead it was the Cullen/Leavell show in the first half before Leary did his thing in the second half.
For Riverheads, only Roberts approached double digits as he finished with 9. Four other players scored either four or five each.
So a disappointing evening for the Big Red, but we will take our victories where we can find them and tonight that was in the JV game as Riverheads finally won one of those close games that had been eluding them recently.
Gladiator big man Austin Craft had his best game of the season, scoring 13 points and controlling the boards, while the duo of Bradley Roberts and Drew Bond combined for four three pointers. That trio accounted for about 38 of the points in the Gladiators' 43-40 victory.
Riverheads is now 9-10 and hits the road twice next week to face teams they have already beaten at home. On Tuesday they travel to Stonewall Jackson where the Generals are likely to be sky high after picking up their first win of the season (they won 58-53 tonight at Buffalo Gap); and on Friday Riverheads will visit Stuarts Draft, which was soundly beaten at home tonight by Page County. The Gladiators then have one final regular-season home game, a Senior Night date on Monday, February 9th, with Luray.
As for Wilson, they have a hectic upcoming schedule as they are still making up delayed or postponed games related to either the weather or their extended football season. I think they are 10-5 after tonight's win.
