Ravenna, OH- James L. Coll Gymnasium was the site of the Division 2 / Region 5 Sectional Championship game as the #7 seed Ravenna Ravens (18-5) welcomed in the #10 seed NDCL Lions (13-9). The Ravens were looking to continue their impressive run after knocking off Niles McKinley in the Sectional opener while the Lions were coming off of a win over Madison.
Ravenna won the tip and scored the first five points of the game on a Mason Ross three ball and a steal and score by Bryce Moneypenny. After leading 7-5 three minutes in, the Ravens went on a 6-0 run to push the lead out to 13-5 with 3:35 to play in the quarter. Both teams scored on two more possessions before quarters end and Ravenna led 17-9 after one. Ravens center Emmanuel Miller had a big opening quarter with 8 points.
The Ravens were able to hold a lead that NDCL began chipping away at through the first half of the second quarter. The Lions trailed 23-15 before going on a 9-0 run that started with a Jaxon Mangelluzzi three ball and ended with another two points from him making it a 24-23 NDCL lead. Pavel Henderson answered back for the Ravens with five straight points of his own to take the lead back by four. NDCL trailed 31-26 before scoring the final seven points of the half taking a 33-31 lead into halftime. Jaxon Mangelluzzi and Evan Dugger each scored 9 points for the Lions in the first half.
The third quarter was the big turning point in this game. NDCL turned up the pressure on defense employing a stingy full court press that forced multiple Ravenna turnovers. The Lions opened the second half on a 10-2 run taking a 43-33 lead as Mangelluzzi accounted for 6 of those 10 points. Ravenna was never able to get themselves going in the quarter as they were outscored 15-8 and trailed 48-39 heading into the fourth.
NDCL carried the positive momentum into the final quarter as they took their biggest lead of the night at 58-47 after a Nick Santoro three. Ravenna ran off five straight after a Justice Haven three and Mason Ross score to cut it to 58-52 with three minutes to play, but Evan Dugger hit a dagger three, his second of the quarter and fourth of the game, to push it back out to 61-52 with 1:30 to play. The Ravens would cut it to five after a Daveon Gregory three with 20.5 seconds left. They were then force to foul and Dugger closed out the game with four straight free throws to give NDCL the 67-58 win.
Evan Dugger led all scorers with 22 points a four three balls for the Lions. Jaxon Mangelluzzi chipped in 18 points while Noah Rogers pulled down 11 rebounds.
Mason Ross was tops for Ravenna with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Emmanuel Miller recorded a double/double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
NDCL moves on to Districts to face the #2 seed Canfield on March 1st at Boardman Gym.
Brought to you by Daystar Ford
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