With March Madness on the horizon, coaches are always hopeful their team will be tested right before tournament time arrives.
Friday night, Ravenswood faces off with rival Ripley. Regardless of the situation, showdowns with the Vikings always provide a postseason-like atmosphere.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Ravenswood was involved in a pair of nail-biting finishes against Tyler Consolidated and Pt. Pleasant, respectively. One of the games went in Ravenswood’s favor, the other did not.
The long-awaited (postponed twice) home engagement with Tyler saw the Devils squander a seven-point lead with1:05 remaining. The Knights fouled Ravenswood repeatedly to stop the clock and then shot lights-out from the 3-point line to pull off a stunning upset, 42-41.
Tied at 41-all and with just one second showing on the scoreboard, Tyler’s Boone Kehrer, who had been fouled, stepped to the line and sank his first free throw to provide the winning margin of victory for the Knights.
Ravenswood fought an uphill battle most of the game, after falling behind, 14-4, in the opening eight minutes. The Devils controlled the second (15-6) and third (10-7) quarters and much of the fourth before Tyler’s furious comeback.
“Take nothing away from Tyler,” said Devil coach Mick Price, whose team dropped to 16-3 with the loss, “they are not a bad team.” Tyler improved to 8-9 with the win.
Chad Small led Ravenswood in scoring with 13 points. Luke Murray and Ryan Benson finished with nine each. Cole Starcher finished with five, Zack Martin had four and Bobby Rymer one.
Tyler’s Corey Lowe led all scorers with fifteen points.
Starcher had a monster game on the boards for the Devils with 12, while Small pulled down seven.
Ravenswood’s junior varsity picked up its third win of the season over Tyler, 54-53. Jesse Mize led the way for Ravenswood with 14 points. Teammate Luke Corley delivered 12 and A.J. Summerfield finished with 10. Torrey Wolfe added eight points; Jacob Lavender had six while Dustin DeRito and Jon Schieffer finished with two each.
Tuesday night on the road, the Devils were forced into an overtime session with Point. Tied 61-all at the end of regulation, the Devils outscored the Big Blacks by three in OT to escape with a 68-65 victory.
With 3.8 seconds to go in the game, Point had possession of the ball but the Devils managed not to foul and prevented the Big Blacks from getting the winning basket – something which didn’t happen 24 hours earlier against Tyler Consolidated.
After Point opened with a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, Ravenswood managed a one-point, 30-29, advantage at the break. Ravenswood still led by one (42-41) after three, before the Big Blacks managed to even things up at the conclusion of four quarters.
Murray’s 28 and Benson’s 18 led Ravenswood. Starcher finished with nine, while Rymer had six, Mark Davis four and Martin three.
Point Pleasant had four players in double figures with Tyler Deal’s 14 pacing the offensive attack.
Davis had seven rebounds, Benson came up with six and Martin five. Murray had five assists and three steals. Rymer had four assists for Ravenswood, now 17-3.
In the junior varsity game Ravenswood dropped a 61-42 decision. Mize had 10 to lead the way. Corley finished with seven, Schieffer had six, Wolfe, DeRito and James Carmichael had four each. Sommerfield scored three with Lavender and Cory Day each scoring two.
Ravenswood will try to avenge one of its three losses of the season against the Vikings tomorrow (Friday). The Devils, Class AA’s defending state champions, will begin Class AA sectional tournament play next Wednesday in Ripley against Roane County.
