By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

The Bluejays scored 29 first-quarter points and coasted from there for a 69-57 victory over the Plainsmen in a Class C-2 first-round state tournament game at Lincoln Southeast High School.

Ravenna (23-1) will play a semifinal game at 2 p.m. today at Pershing Auditorium against Grand Island Central Catholic.

The Bluejays forced Perkins County (13-10) into seven first-quarter turnovers and turned three of those into easy layups to break the game open.

"We were clicking pretty well," Ravenna coach Paul Beranek said. "Maybe we were thinking we could throw up some big numbers and I'm thinking that way too, but you can't do that against a Larry Pritchett team. They're going to hang in there and battle.

"We have great guys who are just resilient. There are no style points here now. The winners move on. That's all that matters."

Pritchett, who has been in coaching on and off since 1964, announced after the game that he was retiring. Pritchett said he knew before this season started that it would be his last after returning to coaching four years ago.

"I just told them I'm through," Pritchett said of his players. "My health hasn't been bad, but I had a heart attack five years ago. It's getting harder to do. This is a young man's game.

"I never thought I'd be back these four years. Really, it's not about me. My kids played extremely hard. I'm really proud of them."

Senior Greg Nissen led Ravenna with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Fellow senior Aaron Habe added 15 points and junior Adam Mingus had 11 for the Bluejays.

The Plainsmen played the Bluejays tough after falling behind 29-11 heading into the second quarter.

"They're probably No. 1 for a reason," Pritchett said. "They're well-coached. They play hard. They cause you a lot of trouble."

Perkins County actually outscored Ravenna the second and third quarters and played the Bluejays even in the final quarter.

But that first-quarter deficit was too much to make up.

"We thought maybe pressure would get to them and it did," Beranek said. "It gave us some flurries when they'd make a run. We thought we were doing a lot of dumb things at times. We applied more pressure and had a flurry of our own.

"Answering runs in basketball is very important."

Curt Softly led Perkins County with 16 points while Drew Mayer added 15.

"It's tough in that locker room because I thought we got a lot out of our kids," Pritchett said. "I've been doing this I'm not a rookie. You want to get here and you hate to lose here.

"It could have been a lot worse. We've had trouble scoring all year. We've played pretty good defense. You couldn't tell that today."

The victory sets up a rematch with Central Catholic. The two teams met early this season with Ravenna taking a 49-45 victory.

GICC's Spencer Fahey, the Crusaders' leading scorer this season, missed that game with an injury.

"I think Spencer might be worth four points to them," Beranek joked. "He might be worth 40."

RAVENNA 69, PERKINS COUNTY 57

PERKINS COUNTY (13-10)

Softley 5-6 2-2 16, Jacob Wall 1-4 2-2 16, Mayer 6-13 7-20 25, B. Jones 6-12 0-2 13, Josh Wall 0-2 0-2 0, Pelster 1-1 0-0 2, Borowski 2-3 0-0 4, Mahnken 0-0 0-0 0, Mayer 0-1 0-0 0, Kurkowski 0-1 0-0 0, Burge 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 9-21 57.

RAVENNA (24-1)

Habe 5-10 2-2 15, Deines 3-5 0-0 6, Basnett 0-1 0-0 0, Mingus 5-8 0-0 11, Nissen 6-8 4-5 17, Johnson 1-5 0-0 2, Klosterman 0-0 0-0 0, Crowell 0-0 0-0 0, Chramosta 3-5 0-0 6, Beranek 0-1 0-0 0, Chizek 2-10 1-7 7, Payne 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-61 9-12 69

Perkins County 11 13 14 1957

Ravenna 29 11 10 1969

3-Point goalsPerkins County 6-14 (Softley 4-5, B. Jones 1-2, Jason Wall 1-3, Josh Wall 0-2, B. Jones 0-2). Ravenna 4-18 (Nissen 1-2, Mingus 1-3, Habe 1-4, Beranek 0-1, Johnson 0-3). Fouled outNone. ReboundsPerkins County 29 (Jacob Wall 6, Mayer 6.) Ravenna 32 (Nissen 11). TurnoversPerkins County 22, Ravenna 15. Total foulsPerkins County 9, Ravenna 20. TechnicalsNone.