KEYSTONE 54, CLEARFIELD 48

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Nov. 30, 2007 - First Round of Keystone Boys' Tip-off Tournament

By Chris Rossetti

KNOX – Keystone used a 7-0 game-ending run to erase a 1-point deficit and get a 54-48 win over visiting DuBois in the opening round of the Keystone Boys’ Basketball Tip-off Tournament Friday night.

“Our guys have a lot of confidence on our floor,” Keystone head coach Greg Heath said in answer to a question about why his teams always seem to win close games, especially at home. “They are usually pretty heady in close games. Other than that, I can’t quite explain it.”

DuBois led 48-47 thanks to a basket by Jon Wayland with one minute left, but that was the last points the Beavers scored.

Brock Witkowski, who scored 11 points, put Keystone ahead for good when he drained a 2-pointer from just inside the arc with 46.5 seconds left.

“He didn’t hesitate,” Heath said. “He wanted to take the shot.”

Keystone then sealed the victory by hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the final 33.1 seconds.

“I think it’s part of the learning process of how to win,” DuBois’ second-year head coach Karin Pfingstler said. “Right now, it’s a foreign concept to them. But I thought it was a good played game. I thought it was evenly matched. I thought the kids did what I asked them to do. It was a vastly different game than when we played them last year (a 68-45 Keystone win).”

The game was tight throughout with 13 lead changes and nine ties including 10 lead changes and a tie in the fourth quarter alone.

Keystone led 29-26 at halftime before DuBois started the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 34-31 lead with 4:07 left in the third quarter thanks to the inside play of 6-foot-4 junior center Cody Schalk, who scored six of his nine points in the first four minutes of the second half and all nine of his tallies in the second half.

“That was by design,” Pfingstler said. “We need to take advantage of Cody.”  

Cristian Summerville stopped the run scoring five straight points including a 3-pointer and two of three free throws after being fouled taking a 3-pointer to put Keystone back ahead 36-34. Summer finished with a game-high 17 points including four 3-pointers.

After DuBois tied the game at 36, Keystone went ahead 38-36 at the third-quarter horn on a Josh Huffman basket. Huffman finished with eight points and 12 rebounds.

A John Hartzfeld 3-point to start the fourth quarter gave DuBois the lead back and started what became the back-and-forth quarter. Hartzfeld finished with a game-high 11 points for DuBois.

NOTES – Jon Wayland added 10 points for DuBois … Keystone outrebounded DuBois 36-29 … DuBois had 16 turnovers and Keystone had 20 … Keystone will face St. Marys, a 63-53 winner over Clearfield, in the title game Saturday while Dubois will take on D9 League rival Clearfield in the consolation game.

KEYSTONE 54, DUBOIS 48

Score by Quarter

DuBois 12 14 10 10 – 48

Keystone 10 19 9 16 – 54

DuBois – 48

Andy Bush 1 2-2 5, Josh Means 0 0-0 0, Brant Davis 0 5-6 5, Gabe Bertini 1 2-2 4, Jordan LaBue 2 0-0 4, Nate Nasuti 0 0-0 0, John Hartzfeld 5 0-0 11, Cody Schalk 4 0 1-2 9, Jon Wayland 4 2-4 10. Totals 17 12-16 48.

Keystone – 54

Kyle Rhoads 1 3-4 5, Tyler Harrison 10 1-2 1, Brian Long 3 0-2 6, Derek Swartfager 1 2-2 4, Nick Bowser 1 0-0 2, Brock Witkowski 4 2-2 11, Cristian Summerville 5 3-5 17, Dan Reed 0 0-0 0, Josh Huffman 3 2-2 8. Totals 18 13-19 54.  

3-pointers: DuBois 2 (Bush, Hartzfeld), Keystone 5 (Summerville 3, Witkowski 2).