Ravenna, OH- On Tuesday evening the Southeast Pirates visited their Portage County neighbors the Ravenna Ravens who came in winners of four straight. There was a nice turnout on both the home and away sides making for a great atmosphere at James L. Coll Gymnasium.
The Pirates won the tip but turned the ball over on an over and back call. Ravenna would run out to a 9-0 lead as cold shooting plagued the Pirates the first five minutes of the game. Garrett Sprutte finally broke the scoring slump for Southeast splitting 1 of 2 free throws. After the Ravens shutout the Pirates for the first 5:45 of the first quarter, Southeast did the same to Ravenna as they scored the finally 8 points in the final 2:15 of the first trimming the Ravens lead to 9-8 after one. Sprutte had 6 of the Pirates 8 first quarter points.
The second quarter started with each team exchanging baskets as Ravenna's Mason Ross and Garrett Sprutte opened the scoring before big men Thurman Treadwell (6'5") for Ravenna and Evan Riffle (6'4") for Southeast each scored inside making it a 13-12 Ravenna lead. Sprutte drove to the basket and appeared to get fouled but the ref deemed it a no call which Pirate coach Mike Matisi took offense to, and ended up getting rung up for a technical foul after the Ravens Maykai O'Neal was fouled at the other end.
O'Neal dropped in both of his free throws for the foul call. Marcus Gibson then stepped to the line for the technical free throws and sank both. Gibson was then fouled on the ensuing possession and split the pair. After an empty Southeast possession O'Neal hit a jumper making it a 7-0 run after the tech putting the Ravens up 20-12 with 3:30 to play in the half.
Southeast would not be rattled as they were able to outscore Ravenna 15-9 to close out the half trailing 29-27. O'Neal and Emmanuel Miller led the Ravens with 6 points a piece with Miller also grabbing 6 boards. Garrett Sprutte had a 16 point first half for Southeast.
The third quarter started out with Sprutte getting fouled on a drive to the hoop. He sank both free throws tying the game at 29. Both teams went back and forth scoring for the next 3 minutes before the Pirates Michael Phillips converted an and-one inside and knocked in the free throw giving the Pirates their first lead of the game at 38-37 with 4:00 to play in the third. This quarter was about as even up as it gets with both teams exchanging baskets the final four minutes, the last of which was a Riffle score inside at the buzzer resulting in a 45-45 tie after three. Phillips had 7 big points in the quarter for Southeast while Bryce Moneypenny had 7 of his own 3rd quarter points including two three balls.
The Ravens got off to a big start in the fourth. Ross opened the quarter with two free throws and a three ball to start a 11-2 run that ended with a Pavel Henderson steal and score giving the Ravens their biggest lead of the night at 56-47 with just under 4:00 to play. Southeast was able to fire right back as the scrappy Phillips scored two straight possessions and Sprutte hit 1 of 2 free throws cutting the deficit to 56-52. Emmanuel Miller came up with a big bucket inside for the Ravens pushing the lead to 6 and then Justice Haven came up with a monster block of a Sprutte layup attempt at the other end with 1:39 to play. Sprutte was able to come right back and score making it 58-54 with 58 seconds to play. After a Ravenna missed shot Pirate center Evan Riffle scored a big bucket inside to cut the Ravens lead to 58-56 with 16.8 seconds to play.
The Pirates employed a trap trying and force a turnover as the Ravens were attempting to run out the clock. They eventually were forced to foul Mason Ross who missed the front end of a 1 and 1. The Pirates grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 3.9 seconds to play. Unfortunately out of the timeout they would have to go the full length of the court. Michael Phillips took the inbounds pass and had to attempt a shot from just inside half court that fell short. The Ravens held on for a 58-56 win over the scrappy Pirates.
Per the norm it was a balanced attack for the Ravens offensively. Mason Ross led the way with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Emmanuel Miller chipped in 10 points and 8 rebounds. Maykai O'Neal and Marcus Gibson each scored 8 points.
Garrett Sprutte had a stellar game in a losing effort for Southeast with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Phillips contributed 16 points with 13 coming in the second half along with 8 rebounds.
I spoke with Ravens coach Marlon Jones and senior center Emmanuel Miller after the game.
This recap is brought to you by Daystar Ford