Charleston Gazette
It seemed inevitable that, sooner or later, one of Ravenswood's players would conjure up some heroics or that the Red Devils would somehow find a way to break open the close game.
It seemed inevitable that, sooner or later, one of Ravenswood's players would conjure up some heroics or that the Red Devils would somehow find a way to break open the close game.
After all, they're a team of balance, talent and tournament tradition, as well as the No. 1 seed in Class AA.
In this case, it was Dusty Mullins, a senior and the school's all-time leading scorer, who had spent much of the game on the bench, plagued by fouls and biding his time impatiently.
Chris Dorst
Ravenswood’s Klavs Bogdanovics scores in front of Keyser’s Wes Washington. ..
In the first three-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, Mullins scored 10 of his team's 12 points - and assisted on the other basket - to help Ravenswood finally pull away from Keyser for a 78-57 Class AA quarterfinal victory Wednesday night at the Charleston Civic Center. A crowd of 5,500 attended.
The victory advances Ravenswood (24-1) into the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday against Bluefield.
The 5-foot-10 Mullins, who finished with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, picked up his second foul late in the first quarter, sat the bench for four minutes in the first half, committed his third foul in the third period's opening minutes and again found himself sidelined.
Meanwhile, Keyser (13-11) kept things within reach, despite a height disadvantage and despite its lowly role as the No. 8 seed.
"My hat's off to Keyser and their coach,'' said Ravenswood coach Mick Price. "It was an honor to play them.''
The Red Devils led only 51-46 late in the third quarter and 55-46 to start the fourth, at which time Mullins returned and eliminated all drama.
In the fourth quarter's opening minute, he contributed a basket and three free throws, helping the Red Devils to a more comfortable 60-48 cushion. He then hit a two-point jumper, fed Klavs Bogdanovics for an easy layup and sank a 3-pointer. By that time, it was 67-50, and Ravenswood could breathe easily.
In addition to Mullins' scoring, Bogdanovics contributed 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, nine rebounds and six assists. Ben Wise added 14 points and seven assists, giving him the Ravenswood single-season assist record of 190, breaking the mark held by Kirk Ritchie. Alex Cole scored 10 points, and Bruce Patterson had nine points and six rebounds.
Mullins, who has scored 1,865 points in his Ravenswood career, was just happy to be back in the game in the fourth quarter.
"I worked my butt off to get here, me and my teammates,'' he said, "and there's nothing more that I would have rather done than be out there with my boys. Sitting over there killed me.''
Price acknowledged Mullins' impatience on the bench but didn't want to risk losing him for the stretch run.
Chris Dorst
Ravenswood’s Klavs Bogdanovics scores in front of Keyser’s Wes Washington. ..
"I think he was a little bit upset sitting over there and watching his teammates play in the state tournament in his senior year,'' said the coach. "I would have been if I was him. Dusty's the kind of player that when he comes in the game he wants the ball. And I think he was a little bit upset in the fact that he was hampered with fouls throughout the game. We had to pull him out early in the first half; we had to pull him back out early in the second half. We didn't want him to pick up a fourth foul.''
Keyser coach Gary Liston knew Mullins would return to the game firing.
"We said as soon as he got back in the game that he would be looking to take some shots,'' said Liston, "and unfortunately we left him unguarded a couple times. And obviously you can't do that with their best offensive guy.''
Keyser never led but forced a 14-14 tie late in the first quarter and trailed by just 34-31 with 1:23 left in the second.
"We did a good job in the first half, made a couple runs there in the second half, got it cut to five and then could just never get over the hump,'' said Liston.
Said Price, "I just thought there were times we defended them a little bit and made a couple runs and kept them at bay. I wouldn't want to be playing them next year because there are a lot of young kids on that team that are going to come back.''
Jeremy Green led Keyser with 19 points, and Preston Hartman had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
It seemed inevitable that, sooner or later, one of Ravenswood's players would conjure up some heroics or that the Red Devils would somehow find a way to break open the close game.
After all, they're a team of balance, talent and tournament tradition, as well as the No. 1 seed in Class AA.
In this case, it was Dusty Mullins, a senior and the school's all-time leading scorer, who had spent much of the game on the bench, plagued by fouls and biding his time impatiently.
In the first three-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, Mullins scored 10 of his team's 12 points - and assisted on the other basket - to help Ravenswood finally pull away from Keyser for a 78-57 Class AA quarterfinal victory Wednesday night at the Charleston Civic Center. A crowd of 5,500 attended.
The victory advances Ravenswood (24-1) into the semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday against Bluefield.
The 5-foot-10 Mullins, who finished with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, picked up his second foul late in the first quarter, sat the bench for four minutes in the first half, committed his third foul in the third period's opening minutes and again found himself sidelined.
Meanwhile, Keyser (13-11) kept things within reach, despite a height disadvantage and despite its lowly role as the No. 8 seed.
"My hat's off to Keyser and their coach,'' said Ravenswood coach Mick Price. "It was an honor to play them.''
The Red Devils led only 51-46 late in the third quarter and 55-46 to start the fourth, at which time Mullins returned and eliminated all drama.
In the fourth quarter's opening minute, he contributed a basket and three free throws, helping the Red Devils to a more comfortable 60-48 cushion. He then hit a two-point jumper, fed Klavs Bogdanovics for an easy layup and sank a 3-pointer. By that time, it was 67-50, and Ravenswood could breathe easily.
In addition to Mullins' scoring, Bogdanovics contributed 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, nine rebounds and six assists. Ben Wise added 14 points and seven assists, giving him the Ravenswood single-season assist record of 190, breaking the mark held by Kirk Ritchie. Alex Cole scored 10 points, and Bruce Patterson had nine points and six rebounds.
Mullins, who has scored 1,865 points in his Ravenswood career, was just happy to be back in the game in the fourth quarter.
"I worked my butt off to get here, me and my teammates,'' he said, "and there's nothing more that I would have rather done than be out there with my boys. Sitting over there killed me.''
Price acknowledged Mullins' impatience on the bench but didn't want to risk losing him for the stretch run.
"I think he was a little bit upset sitting over there and watching his teammates play in the state tournament in his senior year,'' said the coach. "I would have been if I was him. Dusty's the kind of player that when he comes in the game he wants the ball. And I think he was a little bit upset in the fact that he was hampered with fouls throughout the game. We had to pull him out early in the first half; we had to pull him back out early in the second half. We didn't want him to pick up a fourth foul.''
Keyser coach Gary Liston knew Mullins would return to the game firing.
"We said as soon as he got back in the game that he would be looking to take some shots,'' said Liston, "and unfortunately we left him unguarded a couple times. And obviously you can't do that with their best offensive guy.''
Keyser never led but forced a 14-14 tie late in the first quarter and trailed by just 34-31 with 1:23 left in the second.
"We did a good job in the first half, made a couple runs there in the second half, got it cut to five and then could just never get over the hump,'' said Liston.
Said Price, "I just thought there were times we defended them a little bit and made a couple runs and kept them at bay. I wouldn't want to be playing them next year because there are a lot of young kids on that team that are going to come back.''
Jeremy Green led Keyser with 19 points, and Preston Hartman had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
To contact staff writer Mike Whiteford, use e-mail or call 348-7948.
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