The deck was certainly stacked against the Big Red tonight when they traveled to Stuarts Draft for a Shenandoah District contest. After all the Cougars were going to have the home court advantage, they looked like the more experienced and talented team on paper, and the biggest factor of all, Riverheads was only going to have eight players available because of Chris Dotson's selection for an All-Star Football game, requiring him to attend a practice session tonight.
As it turned out, only seven of those RHS players would even see action in the game and one of them would foul out. Still the Gladiators led for major stretches of the game, including a six-point fourth quarter lead, before the "quarterback" took over (and most of you will know who I mean) and helped the Cougars squeeze out a 48-47 win that came down to the final few seconds of action.
The man of the hour for SD was of course Derrick Moore. He was quiet for most of the game but when the chips were down, you could tell he took on the challenge to will his team to victory. Once they fell behind 38-32, he factored into just about every scoring play for the Draft, either by driving down the lane to score or by providing a key assist.
In fact the latter gave the home team the exciting victory when Moore drove to the top of the key with his team trailing 47-46, and everyone in the gym assumed he would shoot. Instead he passed out on the left wing to Ja'Saun Kier-Brown, who stripped the net cleanly at the 2.9 second mark. Everybody assumed it was a three, but it was only ruled a two, which of course only meant the difference between a one-point final margin and a two. Riverheads had a time out left and designed a final play to possibly squeeze out a win, but they fumbled the ball away on their final possession.
Prior to the winning Cougar basket, it looked for most of the evening as if Riverheads' Joe George might be the hero of a Riverheads victory. As I have been telling you in these posts, he hustles his behind off in every game but tonight he carried that to a new level and became the focal point of the Gladiator offense. He worked his way inside repeatedly and his teammates always found him. He drew a ton of fouls and 9 of his team-high 19 points came at the charity stripe. This may not have been his best career game but it was mighty close because of how much under control he played.
The Gladiators needed his inside scoring because of an off-night from outside. Only three players connected once each from behind the arc for Riverheads......Jaxon Duff who finished with 14 points, Grayson Ward who actually converted his into a four-point play, and Gabe Miller, who has been a pleasant surprise so far for the the Big Red.
The Cougars meanwhile had a better night from three-point land and in the first half it was the only thing that kept them in the game. The refs called a ton of fouls against the Cougars in the opening 16 minutes and if they had not hit half a dozen threes, they might have fallen too far behind to catch up. Instead they stayed within striking distance of the Gladiators' 29-26 halftime lead and the aforementioned six-point deficit until Moore made his move.
Both teams now have to come down from this emotional high and be ready to lace them up again tomorrow night. The Cougars will host Rockbridge and Riverheads jumps from the frying pan into the fire as they will travel to Wilson.
As for the girls games played at Riverheads, the unbeaten Gladiator JVs held on to win 29-26, but I have not seen a final for the varsity game. Out in the lobby, the NFHS stream showed SD leading 33-18 late in the first half, so I assume they went on to win it.
As it turned out, only seven of those RHS players would even see action in the game and one of them would foul out. Still the Gladiators led for major stretches of the game, including a six-point fourth quarter lead, before the "quarterback" took over (and most of you will know who I mean) and helped the Cougars squeeze out a 48-47 win that came down to the final few seconds of action.
The man of the hour for SD was of course Derrick Moore. He was quiet for most of the game but when the chips were down, you could tell he took on the challenge to will his team to victory. Once they fell behind 38-32, he factored into just about every scoring play for the Draft, either by driving down the lane to score or by providing a key assist.
In fact the latter gave the home team the exciting victory when Moore drove to the top of the key with his team trailing 47-46, and everyone in the gym assumed he would shoot. Instead he passed out on the left wing to Ja'Saun Kier-Brown, who stripped the net cleanly at the 2.9 second mark. Everybody assumed it was a three, but it was only ruled a two, which of course only meant the difference between a one-point final margin and a two. Riverheads had a time out left and designed a final play to possibly squeeze out a win, but they fumbled the ball away on their final possession.
Prior to the winning Cougar basket, it looked for most of the evening as if Riverheads' Joe George might be the hero of a Riverheads victory. As I have been telling you in these posts, he hustles his behind off in every game but tonight he carried that to a new level and became the focal point of the Gladiator offense. He worked his way inside repeatedly and his teammates always found him. He drew a ton of fouls and 9 of his team-high 19 points came at the charity stripe. This may not have been his best career game but it was mighty close because of how much under control he played.
The Gladiators needed his inside scoring because of an off-night from outside. Only three players connected once each from behind the arc for Riverheads......Jaxon Duff who finished with 14 points, Grayson Ward who actually converted his into a four-point play, and Gabe Miller, who has been a pleasant surprise so far for the the Big Red.
The Cougars meanwhile had a better night from three-point land and in the first half it was the only thing that kept them in the game. The refs called a ton of fouls against the Cougars in the opening 16 minutes and if they had not hit half a dozen threes, they might have fallen too far behind to catch up. Instead they stayed within striking distance of the Gladiators' 29-26 halftime lead and the aforementioned six-point deficit until Moore made his move.
Both teams now have to come down from this emotional high and be ready to lace them up again tomorrow night. The Cougars will host Rockbridge and Riverheads jumps from the frying pan into the fire as they will travel to Wilson.
As for the girls games played at Riverheads, the unbeaten Gladiator JVs held on to win 29-26, but I have not seen a final for the varsity game. Out in the lobby, the NFHS stream showed SD leading 33-18 late in the first half, so I assume they went on to win it.