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KEYSTONE 50, CLARION 49 |
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Jan. 5, 2007 |
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By Chris Rossetti KNOX – In a battle of KSAC first-place teams Keystone hit just enough three-pointer to counteract Clarion’s inside presence and get a 50-49 win Friday night at Keystone. “I think this game was exactly what I thought it would be coming in,” Keystone head coach Greg Heath said. “It was a battle of them dominating on the inside and us knocking down three’s from the outside.” Keystone (11-0 overall, 8-0 KSAC-West) was almost exclusively a three-point shooting team in the game hitting 11 of 30 triples including 8 of 17 in the second half. In fact, 30 of the Panthers 43 shots were from long range and 11 of their 15 made shots were three-pointers. “Give Keystone credit,” Clarion head coach Jim Harmon said. “They were on fire in the second half. We can’t match up man-to-man with them too well, so we tried to extend our zone a little bit and find the shooters. Sometimes they were stepping way out and shooting threes.” While Clarion’s defense didn’t match up well with Keystone’s guards, Keystone’s guards didn’t match up well with Clarion’s inside presence that includes 6-foot-2 forward Ryan Hritz, 6-foot-4 center Theron Miles and 6-foot-4 guard Drew Vandermeer. The result was Clarion domination in the post where the Bobcats (8-3, 5-2 KSAC-East) outscored Keystone 30-4 with all four Panthers points coming in the first half. Hritz and Vandermeer each had double-doubles with Hritz getting 19 points and 11 rebounds and Vandermeer 13 tallies and 12 boards. Miles, meanwhile, chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds despite sitting out most of the first half in foul trouble. “I think this was the hardest and the best we have played since the North Clarion game early in the season,” Harmon said. “Our kids played hard.” Keystone, meanwhile, got balanced scoring from the outside with Dan Ferringer and Cristian Summerville each hitting four three-pointers and Kyle Rhoads adding two triples. Summerville led the Panthers with 14 points, Rhoads added 13 and Ferringer 12. “Against zones it is very important to get balanced scoring,” Heath said. “You can really stretch a zone out and get good shot opportunities when you have a number of different guys who can fill it up from the outside.” The game was tied at 33 at the end of the third quarter before Summerville hit two three’s at the start of the fourth to give Keystone a 39-35 lead 41 seconds into the quarter. Clarion answered with a 6-0 run to take its final lead of the game 41-39 on a Hritz basket with 5:51 to play. Keystone tied the game at 41 when Summerville hit two of three free throws after being fouled shooting a triple. The Panthers then took the lead for good on a three by Ferringer at the 5:05 mark before second Ferringer three at the end of a perfectly run four-corners offense gave Keystone a 47-41 advantage with 3:29 to play. Keystone then had a chance to put the game away but had two poor possessions that resulted in zero points before missing three of six free throws in the final minute. That allowed Clarion to get back within two at 49-47 on a Vandermeer driving layup with 12.7 seconds left. Rhoads then missed the front end of a two-shot foul with 11.7 to go before making it 50-47 when he hit the second one. Clarion had a chance to tie the game, but Ryan Best’s three-pointer with about six seconds to play was too strong. Hritz got the rebound, and his put back was no good. Vandermeer then rebounded and scored with two seconds left. But Clarion was out of time-outs, and Keystone let to clock run out without inbounding the basketball. Clarion started the game on an 8-0 run before Keystone used a 12-3 run to take its first lead of the game 12-11 early in the second quarter. That started a trend that saw the lead change hands eight times to go along with four ties. A second 8-0 run by Clarion at the start of the second half allowed the Bobcats to erase a 1-point halftime deficit and take their biggest lead of the second half at 26-19 on a Hritz free throw with 5:16 to play in the third quarter. Keystone, though, went on a 12-0 run in the next 1:07 thanks to two three’s from Rhoads and two more from Ferringer to go ahead 31-26 with 3:07 left in the third quarter. Clarion answered with a 7-2 run to close the quarter tied at 33. KEYSTONE 50, CLARION 49 Score by Quarters Clarion 11 7 15 16 – 49 Keystone 10 9 14 17 – 50 Clarion – 49 Cody Renninger 0 0-0 0, Ryan Best 1 0-0 3, Adam Bevevino 2 0-1 4, Aaron Swanleck 0 0-0 0, Drew Vandermeer 5 2-4 13, Paul McGinley 0 0-0 0, Ryan Hritz 8 2-4 19, Theron Miles 5 0-1 10, Scott Larson 0 0-0 0. totals 21 4-10 49. Keystone – 50 Cory Cobler 0 0-0 0, Luca Three-pointers – Clarion 3 (Best, Vandermeer, Hritz). Keystone 11 (Summerville 4, Ferringer 4, Rhoads 2, Switzer 1). |