By CHIP CIRILLO | Photos by STEVE WHEELER
Kiera Downey went to the bench with her fourth foul late in the third quarter, but Ravenwood didn’t panic without its leading scorer.
The Lady Raptors held on for a 41-31 win at Brentwood in front of a capacity crowd in the Battle of the Woods on Friday night.
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“I told this team there are going to be a lot of times throughout this year that we’re going to be faced with different types of adversity and we have to be able to all step up as a team in different situations,” Ravenwood coach Mariska Harris said. “When she went out, other girls stepped up.”
Downey led Ravenwood (4-4, 1-0 District 11-AAA) with 12 points, despite missing over five minutes in the second half.
She exited with 2:34 left in the third quarter with Ravenwood clinging to a 21-20 lead.
The junior guard returned after a timeout with 5:01 left and the Lady Raptors holding a 29-26 advantage.
She scored six points the rest of the way and Ravenwood outscored Brentwood 17-8 in the fourth quarter.
“That was tough, but I knew what (Harris) was doing,” Downey said. “I got in foul trouble early so it was essential that I sat out until the fourth quarter when they needed me. And the team held up great filling my position.”
Brentwood (4-5, 0-1) was held to nine points or less in every quarter.
Ravenwood made a 6-0 surge in the fourth quarter to start pulling away.
“They went to a zone, which caused us to have a lot of turnovers, which definitely messed us up,” said post Sam Courage, who led Brentwood with nine points. “And then they were able to score off of that. We didn’t know that they would get into (the zone.)”
Ravenwood outscored Brentwood 17-9 for a quarter and a half after switching to a zone.
“You just have to make shots,” Lady Bruins coach Ronnie Seigenthaler said. “Move the ball around, make shots, get offensive rebounds, get to the free-throw line and if you’re doing those things then you’re handling the defensive change. If you’re not doing those things, then the defensive change was productive.”
SCHOOL SPIRIT
Brentwood’s student section wore blue shirts and Ravenwood’s wore Hawaiian shirts for Tropical Night on the coldest night of the fall with temperatures in the high 20s outside. “Oh, there’s nothing better than the Battle of the Woods,” Harris said. “At our place and their place you’re going to have a great crowd out of both teams. It’s what basketball should be like, especially in December, so I’m excited to see what it’s like in January and February.”
UP NEXT
Brentwood visits Cheatham County on Saturday.
Ravenwood hosts Centennial on Tuesday night.
