KEYSTONE 62, VENANGO CATHOLIC 34

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Dec. 18, 2007

By Chris Rossetti

KNOX – Keystone used a 15-0 third-quarter run to turn a close game into a blowout on its way to a 62-34 win over Venango Catholic in a match-up of KSAC-West unbeaten boys’ teams Tuesday night at Keystone.

“Our guys understand that is a real good ball club they beat tonight,” Keystone head coach Greg Heath said. “They understand the next time they play them they won’t just be able to show up and win. Venango Catholic is very good. They had a cold shooting night tonight, and I would like to think our defense had something to do with that, but I have all the respect in the world for that team. They will contend. I think they are a very good team.”

Venango Catholic might very well be a good team, but the Vikings didn’t play like it Tuesday shooting 34.2 percent (13 of 38) from the floor including 21.1 percent (4 of 19) in the second half while being outrebounded by a severely undersized Keystone squad 41-33. Add in 17 turnovers, and the final score makes sense.

“Give them credit for the fact that they hustle,” Venango Catholic head coach Ed McIntyre said. “When they went to that 1-1-3 or 2-3 zone (in the second half) it was very aggressive. I thought it took our guards away from looking inside. I thought it also took away our guards looking to take jump shots out of it. That forced turnovers. You have to give Keystone a lot of credit for their defense and hustle.”

Keystone (7-0 overall, 4-0 KSAC-West) led by just four, 32-28, following a 4-0 Venango Catholic spurt a minutes into the second half.

But the Panthers took over from there scoring the next 15 points, Brock Witkowski scored eight and Kyle Rhoads six, and 17 of the next 20 to take a 49-31 lead at the end of three quarters. Keystone’s defense fueled the run allowing Venango Catholic (4-3, 4-1) just four shots in a span of nearly seven minutes while forcing six Vikings turnovers.

“We just wanted to try to give them different looks in that zone,” Heath said. “It was fairly successful.”

Keystone’s defense completely shut down Venango Catholic’s 6-foot-7 center Alex Eckert limiting the senior to a season-low four points. He came into the game averaging 20 points per game.

“We haven’t seen triple teams before,” McIntyre said. “But we have seen double teams, and I thought our kids handled it pretty well before. I think Keystone’s hustle and determination had a lot to do with what they did.”

Heath knew his team needed to get bodies on both Eckert and 6-foot-4 senior forward Eric Guth, who had 14 points, three below his season average, if they were going to have any success.

“They could just chew us up inside,” Heath said. “We knew if they got the ball inside, we had to surround them and make life difficult.”

NOTES – Keystone got balanced scoring led by 12 points each from Josh Huffman and Witkowski … Rhoads led Keystone with 14 rebounds, while Derek Swartfager added seven and Witkowski six … Eckert had 12 rebounds to lead Venango Catholic, while Guth had eight … Guth now has 941 career points.  

KEYSTONE 62, VENANGO CATHOLIC 34

Score by Quarter

Venango Catholic 10 14 7 3 – 34

Keystone 11 19 19 13 – 62

Venango Catholic – 34

Parker James 0 0-2 0, Alex O’Polka 0 1-2 1, Mike McNellie 1 0-1 2, Alex Eckert 2 0-1 4, Ben Freeman 0 0-0 0, Eric Paskie 0 0-0 0, Trey Siegel 5 0-0 13, Maxx Rynd 0 0-0 0, Mark Kulinksi 0 0-0 0, Joe Maleski 0 0-0 0, Eric Guth 5 4-8 14. Totals 13 5-14 34.

Keystone – 62

Jake Knight 0 0-0 0, Ben Marchand 2 0-0 4, Kyle Rhoads 3 1-2 7, Tyler Harrison 2 0-0 4, Brian Long 2 1-6 5, Derek Swartfager 0 1-2 1, Nick Bowser 1 0-0 2 Matt Dean 0 0-0 0, Brock Witkowski 4 2-2 12, Garrett Rapp 2 0-1 4, Cristian Summerville 2 3-3 9, Dan Reed 1 0-0 2, Lexan Montana 0 0-0 0, Josh Huffman 3 5-6 12. Totals 22 13- 22 62.

Three-pointers – Venango Catholic 3 (Siegel 3). Keystone 5 (Witkowski 2, Summerville 2, Huffman).