#11 Ravens defeat Cloud to advance to Region 6 championship game

First for the bad news on Monday night.  The Ravens were out-rebounded by a 51 to 27 margin. 

Now, for the good news.  The Ravens still won, 71-62, over Cloud County and will advance to the Region 6 championship game on Tuesday night.  The Ravens, 29-4 overall on the season, will play Barton County, 27-6, at 8 p.m. at the Koch Arena on the campus of Wichita State University.

Barry Eberhardt scored 25 points for the Ravens against Cloud.  Daniel Payne scored 13 points, had a team-high seven rebounds, and dished out four assists.  J.J. Seymore also had a nice game with 15 points and four assists.

The Ravens shot 45% from the field on the game and made 9-of-23 three-point attempts.  Cloud County was held to 33% shooting from the field and the Thunderbirds were just 2-of-14 from beyond the arc.  The Thunderbirds also committed 20 turnovers on the night.

The Ravens will need a solid effort Tuesday night to win their fifth Region 6 title in six years.  The only loss the Ravens have in the region tournament the last six years came via a Craig Fletchall coached team in 2005.  Fletchall, the current head coach of Barton County, defeated the Ravens in the Region 6 semi-finals while he was the head coach at Neosho County.  Neosho County, however, lost to Pratt in the 2005 Region 6 championship game.

Cloud County-Coffeyville Boxscore

Region 6 Men's Tournament Bracket

Wichita State University Map (Tournament games at Wichita are at WSU's Koch Arena, 21st and Hillside)

Daniel Payne pops a three against Cloud on Monday night.

Barry Eberhardt works for position in the first half of Monday night's game.

After the Red Ravens saw a double-digit lead dwindle to a 52-52 tie with 7:19 remaining in the game, Coach Jay Herkelman challenges the Red Raven players.