For the second time in a week, Coffeyville narrowly avoided giving up a 20-point lead to defeat a very tough Colby squad, 67-65, on Monday.

 

From the get go, it was obvious the two teams had tons of scoring talent. Colby's JJ White started the game with three 3-pointers in a row, but a variety of Red Ravens answered at every turn. Coffeyville eventually seemed to get the edge, continuing on its hot streak while watching Colby go cold. By halftime, the Ravens had managed to stretch their advantage to 15 points, 47-32.

 

If Coffeyville thought their lead meant it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way, they'd be sorely mistaken. Shots that fell in the first half began to misfire, while Colby regained its lost form. The lead was chipped away, piece by piece, until Colby finally retook the lead at 58-57 with just 6 minutes to go.

 

However, Coffeyville proved to have some fight in them yet. Although the offense still struggled, a scrappy Ravens side fought tooth and nail to stick with the Trojans, who began to stall out themselves. Finally, tied at 65-65 with 1:54 to go, Nathan Johnson hit a fadeaway just in front of the left elbow to put the Ravens back out in front for good. Colby's last few chances were all met with excellent defensive plays by Coffeyville, and one final half-court heave fell well short to give the Ravens the narrow victory.

 

AJ McBride led all Raven scorers with 13, while Blaise Keita, Love Bettis, and Dayshawn Wiley all added 10. The Ravens improve their record to 16-12 on the season, 13-9 in KJCCC play. They'll finish up the regular season on Wednesday, playing host to Northwest Kansas Tech.