KEYSTONE 79, DUBOIS 73

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Dec. 5, 2008

By Chris Rossetti

KNOX – Brock Witkowski scored a career-high 35 points, and Keystone twice rallied from deficits to get a 79-73 opening-game win over DuBois in the first round of the Keystone Tip-off Tournament Friday night in Knox.

“It was a great first game,” Keystone head coach Greg Heath said. “It’s the kind of games you need to play early in the season. I think Scott (Creighton – DuBois’ first-year head coach) is doing a great job with DuBois. I think that is a pretty quality team that I am pretty happy to pick up a win against.”

In order to get that win, Keystone had to rally twice including from a 5-point deficit with 5:38 left.

The Panthers used a 14-1 run in the fourth quarter to erase a 61-56 disadvantage and take a 7-62 lead on two Witkowski free throws with 2:45 left in the game.

“I think that’s where you see Keystone’s experience with the Greg Heath system,” Creighton said. “That is where I think it comes to the forefront. I would like to think that in a few years the DuBois system will start reaping the same benefits.”

A pair of three-point plays – one traditional and one from long range – erased the deficit and gave Keystone the lead for good.

Jake Knight got the Panthers to within one when he drove the baseline from the corner, scored and was fouled making the free throw. Thirty seconds later, Brian Long, who finished with 12 points, buried a long-range triple making it 62-61.

“I honestly don’t know what the difference was,” Heath said. “They are just a determined bunch. They really got after on defense, and you have a lot of guys who aren’t afraid to make a play on offense in a close game.”

Keystone then made sure the lead held up hitting 15 of 18 free throws in the final four minutes including 8 of 9 in the final minute.

While the Panthers late run won them the game, it was a second-quarter run gave Keystone a opportunity to win the game.

DuBois came out firing on all cylinders and took a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to eight points from sophomore Garret Peterson.

The Beavers then expanded that lead to 15 points, 24-9, 1:45 into the second quarter.

But that is when Witkowski took over the game scoring 17 of his 19 second-quarter points after the Panthers were down 15 including 12 of 18 during an 18-2 run that gave Keystone a 27-26 lead.

“He stepped up big,” Heath said. “But he’s supposed to step up big. Hopefully we aren’t going to need 35 points from him every day. But it’s nice to know that we do have that go-to guy. Whenever we needed a big basket, he is the one who got us the big basket. Although, there were some others as well … Brian Long hit some big shots. Chandler Clark hit some big shots for us. It was heck of first game for Brock, but I’m not surprised by it though.”  

Creighton wasn’t surprised that Keystone came back from the big early deficit.

“I was surprised that it took that long for it to happen to be honest with you,” Creighton said. “Once they put the pressure on us, we struggled a little bit taking care of the ball. They got some easy buckets and got right back into the game.”

DuBois turned the ball over 11 times in the second quarter, but Creighton and his team fixed the problem in the third quarter committing just one turnover in the quarter, and that one wasn’t until the final couple of minutes, while outscoring Keystone 24-17 to take a 54-51 lead at the end of three.

“I was happy with the way we responded,” Creighton said. “I will tell you what I told the guys after the game. If we can give this amount of effort every game, things will turn around in our favor. I thought we busted our butts. We made some mistakes, but with that effort and us continuing to improve, which is what we are working toward, I can’t really be displeased with the outcome.”

Jordan LaBue had a solid game for DuBois with 24 points including 16 in the second half, while Peterson added 15 points.  

Clark pitched in 10 tallies for Keystone.

NOTES – The 35 points for Witkowski were the most by a Panther since Garrett Heath scored 35 in a 70-49 win at Karns City Feb. 10, 2004. They are the most scored by a Panther at home since Heath poured in 38 in a 70-67 double overtime win over Clarion-Limestone Jan. 3, 2003 … Witkowski is only the second Panther since the 2000-2001 season to score 35 points in a game. Heath did it four times … Keystone will take on Rocky Grove, a 68-30 winner over Clarion, in the title game Saturday. DuBois will face Clarion in the consolation game … The game was Creighton’s first as a boys’ head coach. He coached high school girls’ basketball for five seasons including two at Cranberry and three at Titusville. He led Cranberry to the 1994 PIAA Class AA state title and to District 10 Class AA titles in 1994 and 1995. He was 60-2 in two years at Cranberry before going to Titusville for three seasons. He then was the assistant women’s coach at Clarion University for nine years helping the Golden Eagles to the 2005 NCAA Division II playoffs before spending last season as an assistant women’s coach at Oregon State.    

KEYSTONE 79, DUBOIS 73

Score by Quarters

DuBois 20 10 24 19 – 73

Keystone 7 27 17 28 – 79

DuBois – 73

Josh Means 0 1-2 1, Jordan LaBue 9 5-6 24, Brant Davis 4 0-0 8, Cody Schalk 2 2-2 6, Zach Beahr 3 1-3 7, Andy Bush 0 0-0 0, Garret Peterson 6 3-4 15, Tyler Groves 0 1-2 1, Dylan Kriner 2 2-2 6, Keith Parlor 2 0-1 5, Dom Kriner 0 0-0 0, Danny Henry 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 15-22 73.

Keystone – 79

Nick Bowser 2 0-0 4, Ben Marchand 0 2-2 2, Ben Black 3 3-6 9, Brian Long 4 3-5 12, Brock Witkowski 11 10-11 35, Dan Reed 1 2-2 4, Chandler Clark 4 1-3 10, Jake Knight 1 1-1 3, Lexan Montana 0 0-1 0, Brett Zuck 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 22-31 79.

Three-pointers – DuBois 2 (Jordan LaBue, Keith Parlor). Keystone 5 (Brock Witkowski 3, Brian Long, Chandler Clark)