Devils Topple Keyser

Parkersburg News

CHARLESTON — Like their recent haircuts, the Red Devils from Ravenswood received a close shave for three quarters in a Class AA state quarterfinal game.

At the Charleston Civic Center on Wednesday night, senior Dusty Mullins shook off early foul trouble and lit it up for a game-high 24 points as No. 1 ranked Ravenswood defeated Keyser 78-57.

“Keyser was athletic, like everybody knew they would be,” Ravenswood coach Mick Price said. “They were very quick, they got up on the boards and they shot the ball well.

“There were just times where we defended them a little bit and made a couple runs then kept them at bay.”

Ravenswood (24-1), which received a scare from Keyser in the first round of the 2006 state tournament before eventually winning the championship, found itself in a ballgame leading by just five at 51-46 with two minutes still remaining in the third quarter.

Following a timeout, the Red Devils went to work and scored four quick points before the buzzer sounded, including a bucket from Klavs Bogdanovics off a shovel pass from Ben Wise. Bruce Patterson, who finished with nine points and six rebounds, provided the capper on an offensive putback with 19 seconds showing to increase the gap to 55-46.

Mullins played all of one minute in the third quarter before picking up his third foul and found himself riding the pine until the start of the fourth. Once he returned to the floor at the start of the period, it became his show. During a 14-4 run, Mullins was responsible for 10 points, including one of his four 3-pointers.

“Dusty is the kind of player that once he comes into a game, he wants the ball,” Price said. “I think he was a little bit upset in the fact that he was hampered with fouls throughout the game and watching his teammates play in the state tournament his senior year.

“He and I will have a little discussion about this whole evening when we get back to Ravenswood.”

Keyser’s Jeremy Green knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line to cut the deficit to 69-52, but Ravenswood’s defense stepped into high gear. Luke Murray and Alex Cole recorded back-to-back steals which led to layups for the two Red Devil players.

With 2:50 showing in regulation, Ravenswood was feeling more secure after increasing the advantage to 73-52.

“We played them tough the first quarter then Dusty Mullins broke it open,” said Keyser junior Preston Hartman, who was a freshman on the Golden Tornado squad which appeared at the state tournament two years ago. “When I was a freshman, they didn’t really have anybody like that. It was more of a team game for them, plus we had height back then.”

Hard to imagine how many points Mullins would have finished with if not for his two first-quarter personal fouls. He opened the game by knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the period. By the time he took a seat on the bench, the Ravenswood lead was 19-15.

Although the Golden Tornado never led, they continued to nip at Ravenswood’s heels. Greene, who finished with a team-high 19 points, carried Keyser with nine first-quarter points. In the second period, an unknown quantity in 5-foot-6 junior Wesley Stullenberger poured in seven points off the bench as Keyser fought to within 34-31 with 1:23 remaining before intermission.

“If Keyser was going to get production from people like (Stullenberger) then we were quite satisfied,” Price said. “I thought Greene, Hartman and (Matt) Wilmer were three really good players and we felt like the other players would have to step up and make shots.

“I have been down to the state tournament many times and I haven’t seen many kids come off the bench and hit 3s. It seems like that is difficult down here, so if he would have knocked them all down he would have been starting earlier in the year. I was glad to see him miss three or four of those in a row (later in the game).”

Wise quickly turned the tables on Keyser by scoring on a reverse layup then knocking down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. The senior capped the 7-0 run by grabbing a defensive rebound and finding Patterson open for a bucket at the other end of the floor.

Wise finished with 14 points and nine assists. In the process he broke the school’s single-season assists record. Also scoring in double figures for the Red Devils were Bogdanovics with 17 points and Cole with 10 points. Bogdanovics flirted with a triple-double after recording nine rebounds and six assists.

For Keyser (13-11), Hartman started the game in fine fashion with six points over the first seven minutes. The junior, though, was limited to five points the rest of the way.

“We did a good job in the first half and made a couple of runs in the second half then could just never get over the hump,” Keyser coach Gary Liston said. “We knew once Dusty Mullins came back into the game he would be looking to take some shots. Unfortunately, we left him unguarded a couple of times and obviously you can’t do that with their best offensive guy