The Roosevelt bench reacts to a made 3-pointer.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Riders’ Gavin Peeps completes a dunk on a left-side baseline drive. Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

The embroidered logo over the heart of Kent Roosevelt boys basketball coach Curtis Black’s red jacket on Friday featured three program-wide mantras: BROTHERHOOD. CULTURE. RIDE TOGETHER.

The spotlight fell on all three at some point during Friday’s hard-earned road victory at arch-rival Ravenna.

It was a wire-to-wire win for the Riders, but not without a series of mental and physical challenges that tested the group throughout.

The reward for withstanding it all was the team’s first victory since defeating Stow at home on Dec. 5.

The win was also a bonding experience for Roosevelt, which has recently pushed through a series of adversities and have done it together as a family.

“Tonight feels good. For me, it feels good because I am happy for our guys,” Black said. “We have been through a lot of adversity over the past couple of weeks. We don’t take any of our wins for granted. However they come, even if we have to sweat it out, we just want to be on the right side of the board.”

Late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, the Ravens pulled to within two points three times and trailed by just one point two other times.

Each time, though, Roosevelt (2-5) always had the necessary basket for the answer.

E.J. Churn lays in a shot for the Rough Riders.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

Each time, the Riders took turns providing the clutch moments. John Estep, Cyler Foreman, Gavin Peeps and E.J. Churn all contributed at key moments on the offensive side.

The biggest burst came on a critical 7-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that created the needed separation in a game that had featured a back-and-forth flurry to that point.

After Ravenna cut its deficit to 40-39 on a Curtis Ross 3-pointer and jump shot, then cut it to 42-41 on a offensive rebound putback by Braylon Burks, the Riders ran off seven consecutive points that included a dunk on a left baseline drive by Peeps, a 3-pointer from the right corner by Churn and then a layup by Churn off a pass from Peeps.

Suddenly, Roosevelt’s lead had jumped to 49-41 at the 3:12 mark.

Ravenna did its best to rally, using a 7-3 mini-run to pull to within 52-48 with 14.3 seconds to play, but Roosevelt was able to close out the game.

“We tell our guys to be ready when the lights turn on and tonight they were ready for it,” Black said. “They had the answers tonight and made some big plays at some big moments.”

To Black’s memory, it is the first time since the program has earned wins over Ravenna and Stow in the same season since 2010.

Ravenna’s Curtis Ross completes a one-handed dunk during the second half on Friday.
Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

Seven different Roosevelt players reached the scoring column, with Churn leading the way with 14 points. He also had seven rebounds and shot an efficient 6-of-10 from the line. No other Rough Riders player reached double-digits. Jaiden Portis had nine points and Peeps finished with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists in his first game back from an ankle injury that had recently sidelined him.

Ravenna (4-4) was led by Ross, who scored a game-high 28 points. He hit nine of his first 10 shots and finished 11-of-16 from the field. He also pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds and had three assists.

Roosevelt led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter, 29-22 at halftime and 40-34 going into the fourth quarter.

The Ravens’ first-quarter struggles were a direct reflection of the team’s eight turnovers in the first 8 minutes. They cleaned it up the rest of the way, turning the ball over only three times total over the game’s final 24 minutes.

For Black, the win was a sign that his team has been growing inside of their last five losses.

“Right now, we are still trying to figure things out and that is OK. We are OK with that,” Black said. “The season is a marathon, not a sprint. If we are expecting to be a complete product right now, that is not going to happen. Our goal is to get 1 percent better every day, and we feel like we have been doing that. Even in our loss against Hudson the other day, we still took positives from it and got better.”