Ritchie beats Devils, 76-62

ELLENBORO – Like so many things in life, there are beginnings and endings.

Basketball games, no doubt, have them. There is the opening tip and then the final buzzer.

For the 2012-13 Ravenswood Red Devil basketball team, an array of bad beginnings have led to several disappointing endings this season. A showdown with Ritchie County last Thursday night in Ellenboro was among the latest.

The host Rebels shot out to a 21-5 lead after the first eight minutes of play. The game’s opening offensive performance by the Rebels to go along with Ravenswood’s scoring woes pretty much sealed the Devils’ fate. Ritchie went on for a 76-62 win.

“That’s the first game this season where I just felt like our kids didn’t play hard,” said Ravenswood head coach Mick Price. “At least in the first half. We got off to a terrible start and Ritchie jumped out to the big lead.”

The Rebels owned a 45-17 advantage at halftime. “I know our kids were upset,” said Price.

While Ritchie put enough distance between itself and Ravenswood for the outcome to never be in jeopardy, Price did feel as though his squad showed up in the final two periods of play. Ravenswood outscored the Rebels in the third (22-12) and fourth (23-19) quarters.

“I thought we played some of our best basketball of the season in the second half,” he said. “We started getting some breaks off turnovers. We were getting some stops. We didn’t stop anything they did in the first half.”

Jake Martin led Ravenswood in scoring with 18 points. Jon Crow finished with 13, Dylan Radabaugh had 12 and Heath Burgess had 10. Matt Peery scored eight and Dalton Gandee contributed one.

Andrew Davis led all scorers in the game by pumping in 26 for Ritchie. E.J. Burgess had 14. Justin Sage scored 11.