In their 60+ year history, these two have had some slugfests, but as you can almost tell from that score, this one had to be one of the most painful to watch. In a nutshell, Riverheads had the Bison down early with a double-digit lead of their own at 14-4, but made the fatal mistake of not clamping down and putting the game away when they had the chance.
Instead the margin stayed in the 3-5 point range for the better part of three quarters, until Isaac Goff's driving lay-up early in the fourth quarter gave the home team their first lead since 1-0. That fired them up, not to mention their small but rowdy student section, and they finished the fourth quarter on an 18-4 note to send the Gladiators home with a loss that will be hard to take. Although this was the Gap's first win in district play, it was actually their second win in three tries over RHS as they also won the championship game in the Chris Rockwell Holiday Tournament played in December at Riverheads..
In addition to Goff's late-game heroics, the Bison fans roared their approval at the six-point scoring spree from their wide-body Carson Townsend that pretty much put the game on ice. He put the Gap ahead 35-28 and although Riverheads cut it back to a possibly manageable 35-30 score, the Bison then closed out the game by scoring the final six points.
As for what happened to cause the Big Red collapse, it was simply a matter of poise. In last night's win over Rockbridge, the Gladiators kept their cool and met every Wildcat bucket with one of their own. But tonight, once the Bison got the lead, Riverheads had no answer and gave the game away with a series of turnovers and cases of the wrong guy taking the wrong shot at the wrong time. The Bison were quicker down the stretch, more aggressive, and just plain outhustled the Big Red. Or to put it even simpler than that, they wanted it more.
Since both teams are in the lower part of the district standings, neither will have that many more chances for wins, so at least the Gladiators can take comfort in knowing that their four wins against district competition will keep them ahead of the Bison in the final analysis. It remains to be seen how this game will impact either team's regional picture.
The news was not all bad for the visiting Gladiators as they did win the JV game 31-22, completing a season sweep of the Baby Bison. Also I was told by a reliable source that the Lady Gladiators took both games from the Bison in their match-up tonight in Greenville. So at least it was a three-out-of-four night for Gladiator fans.
I have not yet studied the full district schedule for the rest of the week, but it sure does not get any easier for Riverheads as they will travel to Alleghany Friday night, come crawling in late, and then have to be ready for a 2:00 JV tip-off Saturday at Fort Defiance. We can blame that rush job on the snow, since the Alleghany game was regularly-scheduled, whereas the Fort game would have already been played if not for the weather interference.
At least the Hokies knocked off Clemson tonight, which is great news for their fans, but also does UVa a huge favor in the ACC standings. So regardless of which state team you like, you have to be pleased with the outcome of that game. As our buddy Dan Bonner likes to say......."the game is a whole lot easier when the ball goes in the basket."
Instead the margin stayed in the 3-5 point range for the better part of three quarters, until Isaac Goff's driving lay-up early in the fourth quarter gave the home team their first lead since 1-0. That fired them up, not to mention their small but rowdy student section, and they finished the fourth quarter on an 18-4 note to send the Gladiators home with a loss that will be hard to take. Although this was the Gap's first win in district play, it was actually their second win in three tries over RHS as they also won the championship game in the Chris Rockwell Holiday Tournament played in December at Riverheads..
In addition to Goff's late-game heroics, the Bison fans roared their approval at the six-point scoring spree from their wide-body Carson Townsend that pretty much put the game on ice. He put the Gap ahead 35-28 and although Riverheads cut it back to a possibly manageable 35-30 score, the Bison then closed out the game by scoring the final six points.
As for what happened to cause the Big Red collapse, it was simply a matter of poise. In last night's win over Rockbridge, the Gladiators kept their cool and met every Wildcat bucket with one of their own. But tonight, once the Bison got the lead, Riverheads had no answer and gave the game away with a series of turnovers and cases of the wrong guy taking the wrong shot at the wrong time. The Bison were quicker down the stretch, more aggressive, and just plain outhustled the Big Red. Or to put it even simpler than that, they wanted it more.
Since both teams are in the lower part of the district standings, neither will have that many more chances for wins, so at least the Gladiators can take comfort in knowing that their four wins against district competition will keep them ahead of the Bison in the final analysis. It remains to be seen how this game will impact either team's regional picture.
The news was not all bad for the visiting Gladiators as they did win the JV game 31-22, completing a season sweep of the Baby Bison. Also I was told by a reliable source that the Lady Gladiators took both games from the Bison in their match-up tonight in Greenville. So at least it was a three-out-of-four night for Gladiator fans.
I have not yet studied the full district schedule for the rest of the week, but it sure does not get any easier for Riverheads as they will travel to Alleghany Friday night, come crawling in late, and then have to be ready for a 2:00 JV tip-off Saturday at Fort Defiance. We can blame that rush job on the snow, since the Alleghany game was regularly-scheduled, whereas the Fort game would have already been played if not for the weather interference.
At least the Hokies knocked off Clemson tonight, which is great news for their fans, but also does UVa a huge favor in the ACC standings. So regardless of which state team you like, you have to be pleased with the outcome of that game. As our buddy Dan Bonner likes to say......."the game is a whole lot easier when the ball goes in the basket."