Chapmanville's Zion Blevins (2) drives past Ravenswood's Matthew Carte (2) to score two of his 14 points during first quarter action of the Tigers 49-43 victory over the Red Devils in the Class AA quarterfinals Wednesday morning at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center (Photo courtesy of CKG Graphics).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHARLESTON Sixth-seeded Ravenswood stormed back from a 16-point third quarter, but third-seeded Chapmanville was able to hold on and advance.
Sal Dean posted a double-double scoring 14 points and hauling down 13 rebounds and fourth ranked Chapmanville held off a furious second-half rally to beat fifth ranked Ravenswood 49-43 on Wednesday morning in the Class AA quarterfinals at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
From the opening tip-off, the Tigers imposed their will on the smaller Red Devils, holding them to just two field goals in the opening quarter and scoring eight points in the paint as the Tigers built a 14-5 lead after one quarter.
Ravenswood heated up in the second quarter, knocking down six shots from the field but Chapmanville made 52% of its shots from the field in the opening half, scored 20 points in the paint and held a 30-20 lead at halftime.
“Thought we started really good, and I thought our pressure really bothered Ravenswood early,” Chapmanville coach Brad Napier said following his team’s six-point victory over the Red Devils. “It kind of got the game at a faster pace early in the game and that is always to our benefit.”
Zion Blevins scored 12 in the first half on 6 of 10 shooting from the field and shared team high scoring honors with Dean. Blevins managed just a pair of free throws in the second half to finish with 14 points sharing team high scoring honors with Dean.
“He did a very good job of moving without the ball the first half, getting into open spots, finding the open spots,” Napier said of Blevins performance. “In the second half I think they did a very good job of taking away the cut, the first cut, trying to make him make another cut and I think he got a little bit tired too, but they did a much better job of taking him away.”
Chapmanville got baskets from Brody Dalton and Dean to extend to a 16-point advantage, 34-18, with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter, but Ravenswood wouldn’t back down and cut the deficit to four points, 38-34, on Drew Hunt’s 3-point play with 1:32 to play.
“I thought they did a very good job in the second half of controlling the tempo, taking away a lot of the things we were doing in the first half,” Napier said. “(Ravenswood coach) Mick (Price) is a legend in this state, and he is a legend for a reason. He is a heck of a coach; he made great halftime adjustments and took away a lot of things we were doing in the first half.”
Dean knocked down a left wing 3 just before the third quarter buzzer sounded to give Chapmanville a 41-34 lead and so much needed momentum heading into the fourth quarter of play.
“It was big, it was a momentum thing that let us relax a bit,” Napier said. “When a team is making a run on you like that the pressure starts flipping on you.”
Ravenswood got hot in the third quarter, knocking down 70% of its shots from the field to pull within seven points and trimmed that lead to two points, 41-39, on Logan Alfred’s layup with 6:30 to play in the fourth quarter.
“I just fired my layup coach for the first quarter, my gosh it would have helped if made a shot or two in there to keep them at bay. We could have fallen off quickly, but we didn’t, and we just kept playing,” Price said. “We got it to two and we had a chance and that is all you could ever ask for is opportunity and chance.”
Ravenswood trailed by three, 43-40, with 4:11 to play following a Matthew Carte free throw, but the Red Devils could muster just one field goal over the final 4:11 as Chapmanville’s Isaiah Smith went 4 for 4 from the foul line in the final 50 seconds to ice the game for the Tigers.
“Isaiah’s were huge, and they don’t get any more pressure packed than those,” Napier said. “Isaiah deserved it. He has worked his butt off for four years, he is a four-year starter, he has been over here before.”
“Everybody here is good. There is a reason they are here. They won the right to be here,” Napier said of Ravenswood. “Like I said they are one of the best coached teams in the state. They got guys that have been here before and played in the state tournament. They weren’t giving up easy and we knew it was going to be a fight.”
Ravenswood shot 18 of 44 (40.9%) from the field as a team, was 4 of 18 (22.2%) from 3 and just 3 of 5 (60%) from the foul line as a team.
The Red Devils were led in scoring by a pair of seniors, Matthew Carte, who had a game-high 15 points and Drew Hunt, who finished with eight points.
“Matthew and Drew being seniors, I can’t tell you how great it was to be their coach for the last three years to watch them grow and mature and become really good young men and pretty good basketball players at the same time,” Price said.
Chapmanville knocked down 19 of its 40 (47.5%) shots from the field, made 3 off 11 (27.3%) from 3 and was 8 of 11 (72.7%) from the foul line.
Brody Dalton, a WVU baseball signee, finished with 12 points giving the Tigers three players in double figures while Smith just missed double figures finishing with nine points.
“I wish he (Dalton) had already left,” Price said. “He had 12 points on us, he was 6 of 9 and they were all at the rim. He played great and he really hurt us today.”
Ravenswood, who lost to eventual state champion Poca in last year’s Class AA semifinals, finished the year with a record of 19-6.
“In the last two years we were in a regional game at home in Ravenswood, we come to the state tournament finish in the final four got beat by Poca last year, who was a state champ,” Price said. “Who knows? This double-A field is crazy this year, it’s crazy good. Chapmanville may be of the teams that could be playing for the state championship and win it.”
Chapmanville, playing in its sixth state tournament in the last eight years, advances to Friday’s Class AA semifinals for the second time in three years. The Tigers were defeated by eventual state champion Williamstown in the 2021 state finals and return four starters; Blevins, Dalton, Smith and Devon Workman, from that squad.
“Four of our starters on this year’s team were on that semifinal team in 2021 and they were all starters on that team,” Napier said. “These guys have been there before, and I thought Isaiah really stepped up and kind of closed the game out for us.”
Chapmanville, who won back-to-back Class AA state championships in 2018 and 2019 and may have possibly won three in a row if not for the cancellation of the 2020 state tournament due to COVID, will be looking to advance to its fourth state championship game in school history.
The Tigers will face second-seeded and third ranked Bluefield, who advanced to the semifinals with a 76-68 win over seventh-seeded and 10th ranked Wheeling Central.
Chapmanville and Bluefield met once this season in the Par Mar Stores Shootout at West Virginia State’s Walker Convocation Center.
In that contest, Chapmanville jumped out to a 17-5 first quarter lead and led 44-42 in the third quarter, however, Bluefield scored the last eight points of the third and first nine of the fourth quarter for a 74-63 victory over the Tigers.
“We got to not take a possession off here and there on defense, we also got to cut and move without the ball a little harder than we did in the second half. Our cuts, I didn’t think they were real sharp in the second half,” Napier said. “With these really good teams in double-A, this double-A field is stacked, and it is probably the deepest it has been in a long time. With the teams left, no matter who you play you are going to have bring you A-plus game to have a chance.”
Chapmanville and Bluefield will tipoff at approximately 7:15 p.m. Friday night.
Chapmanville 49, Ravenswood 43
Ravenswood (19-6)
Carte 7-14 1-2 15, Dawson 3-8 0-0 7, Bennett 2-6 0-0 6, Alfred 3-6 1-2 7, Hunt 3-10 1-1 8. Totals: 18-44 3-5 43
Chapmanville (xx-xx)
Dean 6-15 0-1 14, Blevins 6-11 2-2 14, Workman 0-2 0-2 0, Smith, I. 1-2 6-6 9, Dalton 6-9 0-0 12, Smith, E. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-40 8-11 49
Ravenswood 5 13 16 9- 43
Chapmanville 14 16 11 8- 49
3-point field goals_Ravenswood 4-18 (Carte 0-4, Dawson 1-5, Bennett 2-6 Hunt 1-3), Chapmanville 3-11 (Dean 2-9, Workman 0-1, Smith, I. 1-1). Fouled out_None. Rebounds_Ravenswood 22 (Alfred 8), Chapmanville 29 (Dean 13). Assists_Ravenswood 9 (Carte 3, Hunt 3), Chapmanville 8 (Dean 2, Workman 2, Smith, I. 2). Total fouls_Ravenswood 13, Chapmanville 8. Technicals_None.
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