The Rocky River basketball team played a spirited game against the Hickory Ridge Ragin’ Bulls on Friday night.  However, they came up short after being outgunned in the second period and could not recover.

In the first period, the two teams played back and forth with the Bulls taking only a 5 point lead 15-10.  They simply hit more of their shots as the Ravens missed several 3 pointers which were the difference.

However, in the second period, the Bulls pulled away and won this ball game on fast breaks and applying a full-court press that was highly effective.  They outscored the Ravens 18-10 taking a 33-20 halftime lead at the intermission.

In the second half, the Ravens played more aggressively, Tim Smith and Narique Smith stepped up to give the home team an opportunity to take this game down to the wire.  However, the two teams played evenly from a scoreboard perspective as both scored 16 points, and the Ravens were not able to reduce the 13 point deficit.  The Ragin’ Bulls still led after three periods 49-36.

In the fourth and final period, the Ravens outscored the Bulls 16-14, however, they really made no serious threat to counter the 13 point advantage the Bulls enjoyed through most of the contest.  When the Ravens had a chance to get back into the game, they misfired on several key 3 point shots and missed six consecutive foul shots.  The Ravens ended up shooting only 3-9 in the period from the free throw line which prevented any opportunity for a comeback.

Senior guard Narique Smith led the Ravens with 13 points primarily on three-point shots.  While sophomore Tobias Forte contributed 12 points, and Tim Smith added 11 points.  For the Ragin’ Bulls senior guard, Michael Bagnasco led all scorers with 16 points.

The Ravens are now 6-5 overall, and 0-3 in the Southwestern 4A Conference.  They will play an away conference game against East Mecklenburg on Tuesday night.