By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

Down by two, no time on the clock, two free throws to tie it, three to win.

First one swish. Second in and out. Third swish.

Those free throws gave Class C-2 No. 1-ranked Ravenna its first tie of the game against Adams Central and sent the game into overtime. From there, the Bluejays outscored the Patriots 11-7 in the extra period to take a 75-71 victory Thursday at Adams Central High School.

Ravenna coach Paul Beranek said Chizek was the perfect player to be shooting those free throws.

"He's made 101 in a row at practice. He could only make 2 out of 3 so we're kind of disappointed in that a little bit," Beranek joked. "But he really stepped it up and gave us a spark when we needed it. He hit some big threes. He hit one from is this Adams County? What's the next one. I think he made one over there."

Chizek finished the night with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. The senior's 3-pointer with 1 minute, 10 seconds left in regulation pulled the Bluejays (19-1) to within 61-55.

"They hit some shots," Adams Central coach Jim LaMaster said. "They hit some dang impossible shots. We just gave Chizek too many good looks and he knocked down shots. We just didn't get a hand in his face and he brought them back.

"He hit a couple of those from about 25 to 30 (feet). They were just bombs. I guess we just didn't understand you have to get out there even that far on him because he can make that shot and he did."

Greg Nissen, who led Ravenna with 23 points and 14 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left to make it 62-58. Seconds later, Adam Mingus scored on the break to pull Ravenna to within 62-60.

After Zach Hunt hit one of two free throws for the Patriots (13-3), Mingus hit a baseline jumper to make it 63-62. With 7.2 seconds left, Tanner Hohlen made 1 of 2 free throws for the Patriots to set the stage for Chizek's final shot.

But it wasn't that simple. The Bluejays brought the ball down the floor, but it was knocked out of bounds with .9 seconds remaining. Ravenna threw it in to Chizek, and he threw up an off-balanced shot but was fouled sending him to the line for three shots.

"You cannot foul a 3-point shooter with nine-tenths of a second left," LaMaster said. "That's one of those situations you have to know what's going on. A 2-point layup, then you're going to want to foul, but a 3-point shooter falling out of bounds, that's not what we want."

Mingus scored early in the overtime to give Ravenna its first lead of the game at 66-64. Mingus hit two free throws and Nissen four in a row to help the Bluejays hold on for the win.

Ravenna finished the game without starters Kelly Basnett and Aaron Habe. Both fouled out in regulation.

"We went way down and had some guys step up who aren't our regular starters," Beranek said. "Our starters had fouled out, but they hung in there and kept pumping their fists. They kind of reversed their roles. I thought that was important for us."

Adams Central jumped to an 18-4 lead at the end of the opening quarter. LaMaster said the team had been talking about the need to get off to good starts.

"Tonight we did exactly that," LaMaster said. "We held them to four points that first quarter. Our defense was fantastic. We were executing on offense. But then we kind of quit doing some things we needed to do, especially taking care of the ball."

RAVENNA 75, ADAMS CENTRAL 71

RAVENNA (19-1)

Habe 1-4 0-0 3, Deines 3-7 4-4 10, Basnett 0-0 0-0 0, Mingus 5-7 3-4 13, Nissen 8-11 5-8 23, Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, T. Chramosta 0-1 2-2 2, Chizek 7-20 2-3 20, Payne 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-55 16-21 75.

ADAMS CENTRAL (13-3)

Hohlen 3-9 4-6 12, Bohylen 4-4 0-0 8, Hunt 8-17 3-9 24, Smidt 2-3 0-0 4, Drudik 4-8 2-2 10, Lyons 2-4 3-4 7, LaMaster 0-1 0-0 0, Arlt 1-4 2-3 4, Barrett 0-0 0-0 0, Elsberry 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 25-51 14-26 71.

Ravenna 4 15 19 26 1175

Adams Central 18 14 15 17 771

3-Point goals Ravenna 7-26 (Chizek 4-15, Nissen 2-4, Habe 1-3, Deines 0-1, Johnson 0-3). Adams Central 7-21 (Hunt 5-11, Hohlen 2-5, Drudik 0-1, LaMaster 0-1, Lyons 0-1, Arlt 0-2). Fouled out Basnettt, Habe, Smidt. Rebounds Ravenna 39 (Nissen 14). Adams Central 25 (Hunt 6). Turnovers Ravenna 26, Adams Central 15. Total fouls Ravenna 21, Adams Central 17. Technicals None.

GIRLS

Ravenna 56, Adams Central 37

Class C-2 No. 7 Ravenna had a slow start and a slow finish, but in between the Bluejays were red hot.

Ravenna scored 38 points in the middle two quarters to down the Class B No. 10 Patriots 56-37 in a rematch of Saturday night's Lou-Platte Conference Tournament championship game. The Bluejays (17-5) won that one over the Patriots (14-5) as well.

"The first quarter we were getting the shots but we weren't making them," Ravenna coach Jeff Thober said. "As a coach, I wasn't too upset. We started hitting them then and that's a good sign. I guess when you're getting good shots and they're not going in, things are going OK. You just have to make your shots."

After making just 3 of 15 shots in the first quarter, the Bluejays sank 8 of 16 in the second to turn a 13-7 deficit into a 28-22 lead at the half. Senior Steph Muhlbach hit a pair of threes and scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the quarter.

Ravenna kept the offense going in the third quarter with another 17 points to take a comfortable 45-32 lead into the final quarter.

"Our ball pressure hurt them at times," Thober said. "We scrapped and fought and held them in check, particularly early when our shots weren't falling. They got a lead on us, yet it wasn't so big that we couldn't over come it."

Things slowed down for the Bluejays in the final quarter. Muhlbach sank a 3-pointer early to give them a 48-32 lead, but Ravenna didn't score again until Mallory Irvine hit a free throw with 3:24 left on the clock.

"We didn't know the difference between sureness and stupidity," Thober said. "Sometimes teams forget what got them there and start getting a little bit tight and a little bit sure which makes you make mistakes. To Adams Central's credit, they came out and got some steals too. They upped their defensive effort in that fourth quarter."

Irvine added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bluejays. Breanna Bohlen led Adams Central with 17 points.

Thober said it was a good win to wrap up the regular season.

"It's big," Thober said. "That's three games in a row we've played outstanding competition. We're peaking at the right time."

RAVENNA 56, ADAMS CENTRAL 37

RAVENNA (17-5)

Grabowski 1-3 0-2 2, Irvine 5-11 2-3 13, McDowell 1-5 2-4 5, S. Muhlbach 5-11 2-4 15, Pernicek 3-12 2-2 8, Acktenberg 4-8 0-0 10, Crowell 0-2 0-0 0, Markvicka 0-2 0-0 0, Andrews 0-0 0-0 0, Hand 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Muhlbach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 8-15 56.

ADAMS CENTRAL (14-5)

Fowler 0-5 2-2 2, Lay 1-3 0-0 3, Bohlen 6-13 2-2 17, Smidt 2-4 4-4 8, Rayburn 1-2 0-1 2, Nikkel 1-5 2-4 5, Shuck 0-2 0-0 0, Colburn 0-5 1-2 1, Hodson 0-0 0-0 0, Bonifas 0-0 0-0 0, Hohlen 0-0 0-0 0, Coats 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-39 11-15 37.

Ravenna 7 21 17 11 56

Adams Central 13 9 10 5 37

3-Point goals Ravenna 8-15 (S. Muhlbach 3-4, Acktenberg 2-3, McDowell 1-1, Irvine 1-3, Pernicek 0-3). Adams Central 4-11 (Bohlen 3-8, Lay 1-1, Shuck 0-1, Fowler 0-1). Fouled out Grabowski. Rebounds Ravenna 39 (Irvine 8). Adams Central 37 (Bohlen 7). Turnovers Ravenna 20, Adams Central 28. Total fouls Ravenna 14, Adams Central 15. Technicals None.