The Glenvar Highlanders will have their work cut out for them tonight when they play host to Northside in a battle of Roanoke County teams.
The Vikings are undefeated thus far and they’ve been steam rolling everyone. Last week they beat the Highlanders at Northside by 33 points, 83-49, and two nights later the Vikings won by 60 at Salem, 89-29. Glenvar coach David Redding knows his Highlanders will be heavy underdogs tonight.
“We’ll see how we respond after the butt-whipping we took,” he said. “This will be a real test, to see how our kids react.”
The Highlanders have been busy, playing three games in five days wrapped around the weekend. Last Friday they beat Parry McCluer at home, 57-53, in what Redding described as a “slugfest.” Noah Duncan led the Highlanders with 20 points and Logan Williams had a dozen.
On Monday the Highlanders were at Staunton River, where they dropped a 67-55 decision. Glenvar led at the half, 27-24, against the undefeated Eagles. However, Staunton River won the third quarter, 21-11, and Glenvar had to foul down the stretch.
“We were within five late in the game,” said Redding. “We’re still not in basketball shape and that hurts us.”
On Tuesday the Highlanders bounced back with a 58-47 win over Covington at Glenvar. Covington had a 23-17 lead at the half but Glenvar exploded in the second half, outscoring the Cougars 41-24.
“That’s what happens when we run our offense correctly and make some shots,” said Redding. “That was a huge win for us.”
Williams led a balanced attack with 11 points and Hayden Clark came off the bench to hit three three-pointers in the second half, including two daggers in the fourth quarter. Adam Ververka also had nine points.
That evened Glenvar’s record at 3-3, and tonight’s game with Northside will be the last for Glenvar before the break. They’ll return to action January 2nd with a home game against Carroll County.