POCA, W.Va. — Poca used one of their most complete performances of the season to defeat Ravenswood, 53-39 Tuesday at Allen Osborne Court. In their Class AA state title defense, the Dots have been on the short end of four contests decided by seven points or less. But against the Red Devils, Poca never trailed and they held a double-digit lead for much of the fourth quarter.
“We needed to beat a good team and we really played well tonight,” Osborne said. “We played well defensively for most of the game and we ran some good offense and had some good looks. We’ve lost some close ones and been through a very tough schedule. We think it has helped us improve. Hopefully by the end of the month, we will be ready for sectional play.”
Poca yielded just two field goals in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 15-6 lead after the opening eight minutes.
“It was our defense. We kept them out of the lane and made them shoot contested shots. Then we ran our offense and got a couple of good looks. I just thought everybody contributed.”
The Dots extended their lead to 26-15 at halftime and 40-25 through three quarters. Ravenswood (12-4) scored the first six points in the final frame to reduce their deficit to nine points. However, the Dots quickly kicked the lead back up to 14 points and they controlled the pace of play in the final minutes.
Kambel Meeks led the Cots with 16 points. Post player Jordan Wolfe scored a dozen points with half of those coming on offensive rebounds.
“He has really been rebounding the ball and playing much better as the season has gone along. He is getting to where he can score around the basket. He is really working hard in practice and developing. It was a really good effort from him.”
The Dots improved to 9-7 with the victory. Poca will play Saturday in the Hatfield-McCoy Shootout in Williamson.
“We’re going to find out real quick on Saturday. We play Martin County, Kentucky and they are 20-3. Then we have Buffalo, Nitro, [Charleston] Catholic and Winfield. So we have some tough games left.”
The Red Devils saw their seven-game win streak come to an end. Drew Hunt led RHS with 16 points and Beau Bennett added 10.
Osborne and Ravenswood head coach Mick Price have combined for 1,445 career wins. The game was a rematch of a Class AA state semifinal contest last March.