Tonight at Riverheads, the two varsity teams split a doubleheader as Wilson won the boys game 65-56 (or maybe 66-56?), followed by the Lady Gladiators winning the nightcap 57-43. The two JV teams will have a similar doubleheader on February 6th, also at Riverheads. This all follows a quadruple-header that Wilson hosted a few weeks ago.
These two games tonight pretty much followed the same script as each winning team used a strong second-quarter spurt to break open a close game and then held off mini-rallies down the stretch. In the boys' game, the first quarter was tightly-contested and featured several ties and lead changes, ending in a 17-14 RHS lead on Grant Painter's late three-pointer.
The Gladiators then scored first in the second quarter to take their largest lead of the night at 19-14, only to see Wilson go on a 16-2 spree to grab a nine-point lead at 30-21. Still leading by eight at 36-28, Riverheads then staged a bit of a comeback, trimming it to three at the break, as the teams went to the locker room with the visitors ahead 37-34.
The big difference in that first half was in three point shooting as Painter's was the only one Riverheads hit whereas I had Wilson unofficially for five at the break, three of them coming from Gabe Brown.
RHS' cold shooting woes continued in the third as countless shots either rimmed out or came up short. Painter, who should hit the 1,000 career point mark by the end of the season, although he is only a junior, scored around his average with 18, and the Big Red also got the first double-figure game of the season from transfer student Honor Robinson who finished with 12. But no other Gladiators scored in double figures.
Wilson on the other hand played well as a unit, deflecting frequent passes to disrupt the RHS offense, and also shot well. I believe this was something like six wins in their last seven games and they temporarily have the inside track to second place in the district standings. However they do yet have road games at both East Rock and Stuarts Draft. I have not seen or heard any scoring for them tonight, but I would guess Gabe LaGrua was their leading scorer.
This loss will of course hurt Riverheads' chances to catch the Hornets for the number two spot, although on paper at least the Gladiators would appear to have a chance to win every game remaining on their schedule. They will host Buffalo Gap on Thursday and play Luray on Saturday, which could have them at 9-5 in district play heading into the final week of action.
The above question mark about the score revolves around a late Wilson trip to the foul line. Sitting there in the stands, I thought the final should have been 66-56, but a 66th Wilson point was never registered on the scoreboard and the PA announcer said the final was 65-56 during his wrap-up. But I see that the Shenandoah District website does show the final as being 66-56.
In the nightcap, as mentioned the Lady Gladiators also utilized the second quarter to take charge of their game. After a tight first quarter that ended with Riverheads on top 11-8, Wilson took a brief four-point lead at 17-13, before Riverheads closed out the quarter on a 16-2 run to lead by 10 at the break. Wilson trimmed it to around 8 a time or two but never made a serious threat to get back in the game.
The Lady Hornets did get victimized by a most unusual officiating error that would have been terrible if it had happened in a tighter game and actually had an impact on the outcome. It happened late in the third quarter with RHS on top 43-33.
There was an out of bounds play in front of the Wilson bench in which the ball was clearly off Riverheads and even signaled that way. Even though there was no delay in the action and absolutely no reason for what happened, the referees then handed the ball to a Riverheads player, who alertly fed her teammate downcourt for a lay-up, as everyone in the gym watched in disbelief.
Even though Coach Bryan pleaded her case and the referees appeared to acknowledge their mistake, the basket stayed on the scoreboard and play continued with Riverheads leading by 12. Sara Moore led the Gladiators with 18, followed by a career-high 15 from Emma Grubb. The Lady Gladiators will travel to Buffalo Gap Thursday while the boys are hosting the Bison.
These two games tonight pretty much followed the same script as each winning team used a strong second-quarter spurt to break open a close game and then held off mini-rallies down the stretch. In the boys' game, the first quarter was tightly-contested and featured several ties and lead changes, ending in a 17-14 RHS lead on Grant Painter's late three-pointer.
The Gladiators then scored first in the second quarter to take their largest lead of the night at 19-14, only to see Wilson go on a 16-2 spree to grab a nine-point lead at 30-21. Still leading by eight at 36-28, Riverheads then staged a bit of a comeback, trimming it to three at the break, as the teams went to the locker room with the visitors ahead 37-34.
The big difference in that first half was in three point shooting as Painter's was the only one Riverheads hit whereas I had Wilson unofficially for five at the break, three of them coming from Gabe Brown.
RHS' cold shooting woes continued in the third as countless shots either rimmed out or came up short. Painter, who should hit the 1,000 career point mark by the end of the season, although he is only a junior, scored around his average with 18, and the Big Red also got the first double-figure game of the season from transfer student Honor Robinson who finished with 12. But no other Gladiators scored in double figures.
Wilson on the other hand played well as a unit, deflecting frequent passes to disrupt the RHS offense, and also shot well. I believe this was something like six wins in their last seven games and they temporarily have the inside track to second place in the district standings. However they do yet have road games at both East Rock and Stuarts Draft. I have not seen or heard any scoring for them tonight, but I would guess Gabe LaGrua was their leading scorer.
This loss will of course hurt Riverheads' chances to catch the Hornets for the number two spot, although on paper at least the Gladiators would appear to have a chance to win every game remaining on their schedule. They will host Buffalo Gap on Thursday and play Luray on Saturday, which could have them at 9-5 in district play heading into the final week of action.
The above question mark about the score revolves around a late Wilson trip to the foul line. Sitting there in the stands, I thought the final should have been 66-56, but a 66th Wilson point was never registered on the scoreboard and the PA announcer said the final was 65-56 during his wrap-up. But I see that the Shenandoah District website does show the final as being 66-56.
In the nightcap, as mentioned the Lady Gladiators also utilized the second quarter to take charge of their game. After a tight first quarter that ended with Riverheads on top 11-8, Wilson took a brief four-point lead at 17-13, before Riverheads closed out the quarter on a 16-2 run to lead by 10 at the break. Wilson trimmed it to around 8 a time or two but never made a serious threat to get back in the game.
The Lady Hornets did get victimized by a most unusual officiating error that would have been terrible if it had happened in a tighter game and actually had an impact on the outcome. It happened late in the third quarter with RHS on top 43-33.
There was an out of bounds play in front of the Wilson bench in which the ball was clearly off Riverheads and even signaled that way. Even though there was no delay in the action and absolutely no reason for what happened, the referees then handed the ball to a Riverheads player, who alertly fed her teammate downcourt for a lay-up, as everyone in the gym watched in disbelief.
Even though Coach Bryan pleaded her case and the referees appeared to acknowledge their mistake, the basket stayed on the scoreboard and play continued with Riverheads leading by 12. Sara Moore led the Gladiators with 18, followed by a career-high 15 from Emma Grubb. The Lady Gladiators will travel to Buffalo Gap Thursday while the boys are hosting the Bison.
