The 3rd ranked Chapmanville Tigers (18-7) saw their season come to an end with a 54-53 over time loss to 6th ranked Ravenswood (20-5) on Thursday morning in the Class AA quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Tigers jumped out of the gate quickly, going on a 12-2 run to start the game. Chapmanville held a 17-8 advantage after the first quarter.
Chapmanville extended the lead to 24-8 early in the second period. The Tigers took a 32-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
Ravenswood came out early in the third period and went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 32-30 with 3:52 left in the third quarter. The Red Devils continued to turn up the heat and eventually took the lead and held a 41-38 advantage heading into the last period.
The two teams traded the lead until late in regulation when Chapmanville was able to hold the ball for one last shot to try to win. Cam Blevins’ 3-point attempt in the corner was off. Benji Adkins then grabbed the offensive board but also missed and the game went into overtime.
In an intense overtime period, Chapmanville found itself down by three when Sam Miller drilled a 3-pointer with 0:17 left to tie the game at 53-53. Ravenswood’s Noah Dawson then hit 1-of-2 free throws with 0:11 left to regain the lead, but the Tigers had one last opportunity.
With 2.2 seconds left, Chapmanville head coach Brad Napier called a time out just as Cam Blevins was preparing to shoot 3-pointer. The ball hit nothing but net but the timeout nullified it. On the ensuing inbound play, Cam Blevins got one more look, but it was short as Ravenswood pulled off the upset.
“I didn’t think we were going to get a shot up,” said Napier on his decision to call a timeout. “We were kind of going slow to only have six seconds left, and I didn’t think we were going to get one up. I guess that was my fault. I should have just rolled with it.”
Chapmanville came into the season trying to defend its Class AA title. Even though it was the outcome they wanted, Napier was pleased with his team’s growth this season.
“I thought we got a lot better throughout the year both as individual players and as a team,” added Napier. “Early in the season, we lost a few games that we shouldn’t have. You could see huge difference in the first four or five games of the season and how we were playing at the end of the season.”
Zion Blevins led the Tigers with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Drew Berry followed with 10 points. Cam Blevins scored 8 points. Adkins had 7 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Miller scored 6 points. Joey Gollihue finished with 5 points.
Beau Bennett led Ravenswood with 22 points. Logan Alfred added 13 points for the Red Devils.
