KEYSTONE 43, UNION 39, OVERTIME

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Feb. 20, 2009 - District 9 Class A Boys' Quarterfinals

By Andy Close

KNOX – Keystone’s Brock Witkowski hit a 12-foot runner in the lane with seven seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, and Keystone outscored Union 5-1 in overtime to get a 43-39 win in a defensive slugfest that was the District 9 Class A Quarterfinals Friday night at Keystone.

“He’s our go-to guy,” said Keystone head coach Greg Heath of Witkowski.  “That’s the point in the game when you need your go-to go guy to come through for you, and he did.”

Union freshman Brody Pollock was sent to the line twice in the final minute of the game with a chance to extend the lead for the Golden Knights, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one with 34 seconds to go and then made one of two with 13.7 seconds left to make it 38-36 before Witkowski’s game-tying shot.

Ben Black and Brian Long sealed the deal for the second-seeded Panthers in overtime, as they each connected on buckets underneath to secure the win and send Keystone (22-2) to the District 9 Class A semifinals where they will meet Elk County Catholic.

“That is maybe the worst offensive game we have played all year,” said Heath “We missed so many easy shots.  It’s a good thing we played good defense because it sure wasn’t a good offensive night for us.”

With his team trailing 31-25 and desperately looking for any kind of spark offensively, Witkowski was able to provide one scoring nine points in the fourth quarter after scoring just four in the first three quarters.

“You let him get into the key area and you are in trouble,” said Union head coach Karen Davis.  “Logan (Mortimer) did a great job on him in the first three quarters.  I knew he was going to turn things up a little bit.”                                                                                                                                 

Witkowski’s jumper with 5:34 to go in the game coupled with a three ball from Dan Reed moments later cut the Union lead to 33-32.

After Union’s Zach Smith made a driving layup to put the 10th-seeded Golden Knights (14-9) up 37-33, Witkowski went to work again.  He drove hard to the lane and made the shot as he was fouled.  The free throw was good, cutting the defect to one once again.

Union had several opportunities to stretch the lead, but three turnovers in the final 2:30 proved to be costly.

“I thought we really stepped up the pressure in the passing lanes defensively in the fourth quarter,” said Heath.  “I thought our defense was pretty good when it had to be.

Davis seemed to echo those same thoughts.

“Keystone picked it up defensively in the fourth quarter from what they did in the first three quarters,” she said.

The Panthers looked as if they were going to run away with this one early, as they used a 12-0 run to go up 14-5 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

Union responded, however, going on a 8-0 run over their own to take a 15-14 lead early in the second quarter.  The teams traded baskets after that and Union went into halftime with a 21-19 lead.

Witkowski finished with 13 points on the night for Keystone, while Reed finished with 11 and Ben Black seven points and 14 rebounds.

Smith and Scott Booth finished with 11 points apiece for Union, while Neil Scott pulled down 15 rebounds.

“Neil is a workhorse for us in there,” said Davis “That’s his game is the boards and we are going to miss that big time next year.”          

The Keystone-ECC game will be Wednesday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym at a time to be determined.     

Keystone 43, Union 39 OT

Score By Quarters

Union                                                                          9          12        10        7          1 – 39

Keystone                                                         14        5          6          13        5 – 43

Union 39

Zach Smith 4 2-2 11, Scott Booth 4 3-6 11, Logan Mortimer 2 3-6 7, Travis Anthony 1 2-2 5, Neil Scott 2 0-2 4, Brody Pollock 0 1-3 1, Austin Davis 0 0-0 0 Totals: 13 11-21 39

Keystone 43

Brock Witkowski 6 1-2 13, Dan Reed 5 0-2 11, Ben Black 2 3-7 7, Ben Marchand 2 0-0 4, Brian Long 3 0-0 6, Chandler Clark 1 0-0 2, Brett Zuck 0 0-0 0, Lexan Montana 0 0-0 0, Jake Knight 0 0-0 0 Totals: 19  4-10 43

Three Pointers:  Keystone 1 (Reed), Union 2 (Smith 1, Anthony 1)