Chapmanville's Cam Blevins (3) scores a game-tying layup with 2:08 to play in overtime Thursday morning of the Tigers 54-53 loss to Ravenswood in the Class AA quarterfinals at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center (PHOTO by Holly Eldridge/Holly Eldridge Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHARLESTON One could point to a lot of reasons that reigning Class AA champion Chapmanville lost to Ravenswood Thursday morning in a rematch of last year’s Class AA quarterfinals at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.
Up by 16 in the first half, Chapmanville seemed headed for a quarterfinal victory and a berth in the semifinals that would have them one win away from a back-to-back Class AA state championship.
But sixth-seeded Ravenswood had other ideas and used a third quarter rally to beat third-seeded Chapmanville 54-53 in overtime and avenge last season’s quarterfinal loss to the Tigers.
The win improved Ravenswood to 20-5 and advanced the Red Devils to their first semifinal appearance since 2018. The loss ended Chapmanville’s season at 18-7 and was the Tigers first loss against a Class AA opponent this season.
“I thought the big difference in the game was obviously the third quarter,” Chapmanville head coach Brad Napier said. “I felt like we controlled the first half and went really cold in the third quarter, but more so than that we gave up 20 points and that is not playing good defense and that is not what we have been about in our program.”
Chapmanville led 24-8 with 5:31 to play in the first half after Benji Adkins’ layup, but the Red Devils cut the lead in half before Sam Miller drained a 3 to give Chapmanville a 32-21 halftime lead.
Chapmanville missed their first seven shots and nine of its first 10 to start the third quarter, finishing 2 of 12 from the field in the quarter; meanwhile, Ravenswood started the quarter on a 9-0 run, made 9 of 18 shots in the quarter and outscored the Tigers 20-6 to erase an early 16-point deficit and take a 41-36 lead after three quarters.
“I think we were settling early for jumpers, we were cutting hard and swinging the ball from side to side and making them guard,” Napier said. “We were taking a lot of quick jumpers, and a lot of them were pretty good shots but we were just cold in the third quarter.”
In last year’s quarterfinal matchup, Chapmanville led by 16 in the third quarter before Ravenswood closed to within four but could get no closer, however, the Red Devils made the plays in regulation and one more in overtime to get the win.
“That game could’ve gone any different way,” Ravenswood head coach Mick Price said. “Last year, we were close at the end and they go on to win the whole thing.”
“Sometimes you never really realize how close you are to achieving your goal,” Price said. “These guys knew what it took to not only get to the state tournament, but how to play here. The guys never panicked.”
Chapmanville took a one-point lead, 45-44, when Cam Blevins drained a 3 with 5:44 remaining. Beau Bennett’s layup with 2:36 to play gave the Red Devils a 48-46 lead before Zion Blevins answered with a layup of his own to tie the game at 48 with 2:16 remaining.
Chapmanville had two good opportunities to win the game in final six seconds, both shots a Cam Blevins 3 and a Benji Adkins jumper off an offensive rebound both drew iron sending the game into overtime.
“We knew they were to face guard Joey (Gollihue), and we kind of ran a decoy thing with him,” Napier said. “We got the shot we wanted (and) Cam got a good look and that is all you can ask for, I mean sometime the ball just don’t bounce your way and sometimes your best shooters don’t make shots.”
The two schools traded baskets to start the overtime session. With the game tied at 50, Logan Alfred gave the Red Devils a 52-50 lead with his layup with 43 seconds to play.
Eighteen seconds later, Noah Dawson made one of two free throws to increased the lead to 53-50 before Chapmanville tied it with a 3 from Miller.
Miller, who missed a majority of the season with a foot injury, played 18 minutes, which was more than Napier and the coaching staff had intended to play him, tied the game with his second 3-pointer in overtime with 17 seconds remaining.
“We didn’t play on playing Sam that many minutes (and) he has only practiced a handful of days,” Napier said. “He has been out for the majority of the season with a handful of injuries and probably pushed his minutes more so than we should have, but I thought he was playing good and gave us some energy.”
Following a Ravenswood timeout, Dawson was fouled near the free throw line sending them to the line for two shots.
Dawson, who was 1 of 6 from the line prior to his final two attempts, sank the first one to give the Red Devils a 54-53 lead with six seconds remaining.
“I just knew I had to make that one, or if we had lost, I would have felt bad,” Dawson said. “It felt good knocking it down.”
Dawson’s second attempt was short and rebounded by Adkins, who got the ball to Zion Blevins.
Blevins got the ball into the frontcourt and got it to Cam Blevins, who drained what appeared to be a game-winning 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining, however, Napier not liking his team’s pace had called for a timeout a mere split second before the shot was released.
Blevins got one final look at a potential game-winning shot, but his 3 was off the mark eliminating the reigning champs from the tournament.
“We were going slow to only have six seconds and I didn’t think we were going to get a shot up,” Napier said. “That was my fault and I should’ve rolled with it.”
Joking with media members during his postgame press conference, Price said he was glad that Chapmanville had a timeout, but at the same felt bad for Napier because he too was once in that position.
“I have done it as a coach. You want to make sure you put your kids in the best position, and it never fails when you do that, someone makes a shot, then someone makes a shot and the crowd goes crazy and it’s not Brad’s fault,” Price said. “He is trying to put his kids in the best position, and I have done exactly what Brad has done. It is not an easy feeling, but it happens and you just go on and do what you got to do.”
Chapmanville got off to a good start scoring jumping out to a 12-2 lead on its way to a 17-8 first quarter lead. The Tigers scored the first seven points of the second quarter and led 24-8 before the Red Devils trimmed it to 11 points, 32-21 at halftime.
Zion Blevins scored team-high 17 points and Drew Berry finished with 10 points while Cam Blevins added eight for the Tigers.
Bennett led Ravenswood with a game-high 22 points, Alfred added 13 and Greyson Keen had eight points to go along with 10 rebounds and Evan Swain scored seven and hauled down 11 rebounds.
Class AA Quarterfinals (Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center- Charleston, WV)
Ravenswood 54, Chapmanville 53 (Overtime)
Ravenswood Red Devils (20-5)
Dawson 1-5 2-8 4, Bennett 8-15 3-4 22, Alfred 6-15 1-2 13, Keen 4-6 0-0 8, Swain 3-9 1-4 7, Bails 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-50 7-18 54.
Chapmanville Tigers (18-7)
Blevins, Z. 7-13 0-0 17, Blevins, C. 3-10 0-0 8, Gollihue 2-9 1-1 5, Berry 4-8 0-0 10, Adkins, B. 3-9 1-2 7, Miller 2-4 0-0 6, Baisden 0-0 0-0 0, Adkisn, T. 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 21-53 2-3 53.
Ravenswood 8 13 20 7 6- 54
Chapmanville 17 15 6 10 5- 53
3-point field goals_Ravenswood 3-10 (Dawson 0-2, Bennett 3-7, Alfred 0-1), Chapmanville 9-25 (Blevins, Z. 3-5, Blevins, C. 2-7, Gollihue 0-5, Berry 2-5, Miller 2-3). Fouled out_None. Rebounds_Ravenswood 36 (Swain 11), Chapmanville 31 (Adkins, B. 10). Assists_Ravenswood 10 (Alfred 5), Chapmanville 11 (Gollihue 4). Total fouls_Ravenswood 7, Chapmanville 15. Technicals_None.