Keystone’s Cold Shooting Night Ends Lady Panthers Quest for D9 Gold

| February 28, 2018


DUBOIS, Pa. (D9Sports) – The Keystone girls’ basketball team picked a bad night to have an off-shooting game, as the Lady Panthers shot under 20 percent in a 44-25 District 9 Class 2A semifinal loss to top-seeded Kane Tuesday at DuBois High School.

(Photo: Keystone’s Tessa Weaver (No. 32 in black) and Kane’s Ella Marconi jump for the opening tip Tuesday night. Photo by Tessa Boschert. Check out more of Boschert’s work here)

“It’s very hard to win when you can’t shoot,” Keystone head coach Barry Foust, whose team was 10 of 51 (19.6 percent) from the floor, said. “We turned them over, but we couldn’t finish at the other end. That makes a big difference when you can’t do that.”

Keystone (12-12), the fifth seed, did turn Kane (24-1) over forcing 28 Lady Wolves giveaways, and they also did a pretty good job on the defensive end limiting Kane to under 40 percent shooting (38.1 percent on 16 of 42 from the floor).

But after a quick start that saw the Lady Panthers jump out to a 7-0 lead – with all seven points coming from senior Taylor Geer off three Kane turnovers – Keystone went cold from the field making just one basket the rest of the half.

That hoop was from Makenzie Byerley at the 3:52 mark of the first quarter and put Keystone ahead 9-4. But it was the last Lady Panthers points until Tessa Weaver hit two free throws with 14.1 seconds left in the half off an offensive rebound situation, a span of 11:38. And the Keystone field goal drought lasted into the second half when Geer nailed a 3-pointer 1:24 into the half ending a span of 13:16 between hoops.

The Keystone dry spell allowed Kane to grab a 22-11 halftime lead.

“We just started out a little slow,” Kane’s junior 1,000-point scorer Ella Marconi, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds in the victory and was named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, said. “We picked up our defense and talked more.”

Listen to more of Marconi’s thoughts on the game.

Geer’s 3-pointer actually brought Keystone back within eight, 22-14, but Kane quickly ended any thought of a Lady Panther comeback by going on runs of 7-0 and 10-0 – the larger spurt was 17-2 – to put the game away by the end of three quarters up 39-18.

Keystone’s cold shooting combined with Kane’s height advantage allowed the Lady Wolves to also control the glass outrebounding the Lady Panthers 47-25 with Rachael Morgan joining Marconi with a team-best 13 boards – Morgan also scored six points.

“I think they got better positioning on us on the inside boards,” Foust, whose team only lost by two to Kane in early January, said. “We were trying, but their size makes a big difference.”

Geer led Keystone with 17 points and eight rebounds but was the only Lady Panther to score more than four points.

“No one expected us to be here,” Foust said. “I’m happy with where we are at and proud of the kids, how well they have played all year.”

Keystone’s season isn’t over. The Lady Panthers will face Cranberry, a 51-41 loser to Coudersport in the other semifinal, in the consolation game with the winner advancing to the PIAA playoffs and the loser’s season being over.

The Lady Panthers faced the Berries twice during the regular season winning 45-43 at the Cranberry Christmas Tournament and losing 49-41 Jan. 10 at Keystone. In both of those games, Cranberry had the services of second-leading scorer Erin Merryman, who has since left the team.

“I like our matchup,” Foust, who guided his team to the PIAA playoffs in the old Class 1A two years ago as the District 9 champion, said. “We match up size wise with them, and I think we have a pretty good opportunity to maybe go to the next level. Cranberry plays good, fundamental defense. We have to play well that night.

“The more I can get these kids on the floor and the more experience they have is going to be good for us. It’s a benefit for us.”

The date, time and place of the consolation game hasn’t been announced.

Kane will rematch with Coudersport in the District 9 title game won last year by Coudy.

The date, time and place of the championship game hasn’t been announced.

KANE 44, KEYSTONE 25

Score by Quarters

Keystone 9 2 7 7 – 25
Kane 10 12 17 5 – 44

KEYSTONE – 25

Makenzie Byerley 1 0-0 2, Jenna Stiller 0 0-0 0, Emily Laurer 0 0-0 0, Taylor Geer 7 1-2 17, Danica Hurrelbrink 1 0-0 2, Madison Dunlap 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Dunlap 0 0-0 0, McKenzie Hovis 0 0-0 0, Danae Hurrelbrink 0 0-0 0, Ceayra Altman 0 0-0 0, Tessa Weaver 1 2-4 4, Trinity Thompson 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 3-5 25.

KANE – 44

Caitlin O’Hara 1 4-4 7, Sierra Hillman 0 0-0 0, Raeann Asel 0 0-0 0, Hannah Buhl 1 0-1 2, Katlyn Young 0 0-0 0, Rachael Buhl 0 0-0 0, Rachael Morgan 3 0-0 6, Rainee Wright 0 0-0 0, Ainsley Saf 0 0-0 0, Emily Bucheit 2 0-2 5, Ella Marconi 6 6-8 18, Rachel Haight 0 0-0 0, Sarri Swanson 0 0-0 0, Audri Marconi 1 0-0 2, Trinity Clark 2 0-1 4. Totals 16 10-15 44.

Three-pointers: Keystone 2 (Geer 2). Kane 2 (O’Hara, Bucheit).

Rebounding: Keystone 12 offensive, 13 defensive, 25 total. (Geer 8, Weaver 5). Kane 17 offensive, 30 defensive, 47 total (Ella Marconi 13, Morgan 13, Clark 8, O’Hara 7).


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