CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Class A No. 2 Ravenswood scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter and went on for a 64-48 semifinal win over No. 3 Tug Valley on Thursday from the Charleston Civic Center.
The Red Devils (26-1) overall in the second half went 13 of 17 from the floor and 11 of 11 from the free throw line.
“It all goes to (my teammates),” said Ravenswood senior standout Isaiah Morgan. “I missed several shots early and I don’t think I played a very good first half. But they were the guys who kept me afloat.
“They showed their confidence in me and that helped pick up my game, helping me to make some plays,” he continued. “(Jayden Rhodes and Stephen Dawson) played lights out in the second half.”
Morgan, though, had the spotlight, totaling 31 points and going 15 of 15 from the free throw line. That effort equaled out to the third most makes without a miss for the entire game from the foul line in state tournament history.
“That’s something that I’ve always prided myself on, being able to knock down free throws,” Morgan said. “That’s something I’ve put a lot of time in for. In a big moment like that, I just want to step up and knock them down.”
A layup-and-one from Isaiah Morgan capped that 13-0 run in the fourth quarter, giving the Red Devils a 55-39 lead with 4:08 to go – that’s after Tug Valley had closed to within three at the end of the third.
“We’ve worked on four minute time periods in practice for a long time,” said Ravenswood coach Mick Price. “Those first 10 possessions of the fourth quarter were crucial.
“We spread them out, made some good plays and got the ball to the rim,” he continued. “They executed. They bought into what the game plan was and that’s the reason we’re going to play for a state championship on Saturday.”
Tug Valley (19-8) was led by a pair of seniors in Tyler May and Jonathan Blankenship as they both finished with 12 points apiece.
The Panthers went just 3 of 11 from the floor in the fourth quarter while Ravenswood made its game winning run.
“We didn’t communicate defensively and we gave them a bunch of easy shots that we didn’t give them in the first half,” said Tug Valley coach Edwyn May. “They’re a good shooting team and if you leave them open, they’re going to make shots. We just didn’t communicate defensively like we needed to.”
The win avenged Ravenswood’s only loss on the year, which came to Tug Valley back in January. For Tug Valley, it was the first loss to an in-state Class A opponent this season.
Dawson finished with 18 points for Ravenswood and Rhodes added 12 points in the win as well.
The Red Devils on Saturday will play for the school’s third basketball state championship on Saturday against either No. 1 Wheeling Central or No. 5 Trinity at 2:30 p.m.
“I’d rather not comment on either one of them,” Price said. “I know both of those coaches. Whoever wins, wins. We’ll play whoever gets here.”
MetroNews will have a full HD-video broadcast of the game at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com.
“It’s amazing,” Rhodes said. “We’ve really been working hard and wanted to get back to a state championship this year.”
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