LocalSportsJournal.com

The Ravenna boys basketball team nearly let go of a 20-point second-half lead against Hart on Friday but squeaked past the Pirates with a 59-58 win at home.

Grant Becklin lifted the Bulldogs on a back-door play to the basket that Hunter Hogan threaded the needle on with three seconds remaining.

The Pirates called timeout after the play but were not able to get a shot off as time expired.

“If people are sleeping on Hart, they better Wake up,” said third-year Ravenna Coach Courtney Kemp about Hart’s comeback. “Their kids play hard. You’d have never known we led by 20 by looking at how hard they play.”

Building up a lead early, the Bulldogs led 34-22 at halftime and extended its advantage to 20 points with just under half of the third quarter to play.

But Hart junior Parker Hoevy helped lead the comeback and put the Pirates up 58-57 with 24 seconds left after teammate Carter Bitley drained a 3-pointer to bring his team within a point.  

Ravenna didn’t buckle in the final moments of the game, even after Kyle Beebe missed the front end of a 1 and 1. Beebe hustled to grab his own rebound, found an open Hogan who then saw Becklin and the Bulldogs pulled out a heart-attack win.

“We talk about our guys not getting too high or too low,” said Kemp about his team keeping its composure during intense games like Thursday’s. “We have a great group of guys who play hard and practice hard.”

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Travis May who put up 17 points while Beebe posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out six assists and grabbing four steals.

Becklin also paced Ravenna with 15 points, four rebounds and three blocks and Clay Schullo chipped in nine points and four rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Parker Hovey did a lot of damage and was critical to the Pirates hanging in there, scoring a game-high 22 points along with seven rebounds, five blocks and five assists. Also chipping in points for the Pirates was Kohen Porter with 12 points and Bitley offered up eight points.

Ravenna climbs to 3-0 on the season and next takes the court on Wednesday December 29th at Cornerstone University to face-off with Benzie Central for the Holiday Showcase.

Hart drops to 2-1 and is back in action after the new year when they will host Whitehall on Friday January 7th.