KHS ousted in first round of state tournament

Mineral Daily News Tribune

For the second time in three years, the Keyser Golden Tornado saw their season come to an end at the hands of the Ravenswood Red Devils in the first round of the Class AA state tournament.

Dusty Mullins scored a game-high 24 points to lead four players in double figures as the Red Devils defeated the Golden Tornado, 78-57, on Wednesday evening at the Charleston Civic Center.

Two years ago, Ravenswood eliminated Keyser in the first round, 49-46, en route to the state championship, and much like that initial meeting, the top-ranked Red Devils had trouble shaking the Golden Tornado before finally putting them away.

Ravenswood (24-1) jumped out to an 11-2 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Mullins and one by Ben Wise.

Midway through the period, Keyser, the eighth seed, went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 14-14, the last five points scored by Jeremy Green on a layup and 3-pointer.

Ravenswood then scored 5 of the next 7 points to lead 19-15 after the first period.

The Red Devils opened the second quarter with 6-0 run to take a 10-point lead, 25-15, at the 6:04 mark.

Another 3-pointer by Mullins gave Ravenswood its biggest lead of the first half, 30-19, with 4:49 to play before intermission, but Keyser rallied with a 12-4 run to cut its deficit to 34-31 at the 1:23 mark.

A pair of freshmen led the Keyser charge, as Wes Washington started the run with a 3-pointer, and Wes Stullenbarger scored on a jumper, a 3-pointer, and then hit two free throws to cap the rally.

Ravenswood responded by scoring 7 of the final 9 points of the half to take a 41-33 lead at the break.

Keyser remained within striking distance throughout the third quarter, pulling to within four points at 44-40 on a layup by Washington.

But the Golden Tornado went scoreless over the next three minutes and trailed 55-46 heading into the final quarter.

And that’s when the Red Devils started to take over.

Ravenswood started the period with a 14-4 run to take a 69-50 lead at the 5:01 mark. Mullins keyed the run by scoring 10 of the 14 points.

Two minutes later, a layup by Alex Cole gave Ravenswood its biggest lead of the game at 21 points, 73-52, with 2:58 remaining.

Keyser would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

Ravenswood dominated the game inside, scoring 36 points in the paint to just 10 for Keyser.

The Red Devils outrebounded the Golden Tornado, 35-30, and scored 14 second-chance points to Keyser’s 3.

Ravenswood went 12-for-22 from the free throw line while Keyser only made 6 trips to the charity stripe and converted 5.

Keyser shot 39.7 percent from the field and Ravenswood shot 53.7 percent.

Klavs Bogsdanovics had 17 points and 9 rebounds for the Red Devils, while Wise had 14 points, 7 boards and 9 assists and Cole added 10 points.

Green led Keyser with 19 points, while Preston Hartman had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Washington and Stullenbarger each finished with 9 points, with Washington leading the team with 9 assists.

With the loss, Keyser finishes its season at 13-11 under first-year head coach Gary Liston.