The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
WILDCATS 3-PEAT AS LC8 CHAMPS ON SENIOR NIGHT
At first, Keystone’s senior night couldn’t have gone worse after it had scored four first-half points Feb. 2 against Columbia.
The defense kept it in the game to trail, 13-4, at halftime. With a third straight Lorain County League championship on the line, Keystone’s offense bounced back, snowballing into a 34-27 victory.
“I bet you it’s hard to find a team in the record books for a team to make (two) baskets in the first half and then win the game,” Keystone coach Rocky Houston said.
In front of a packed crowd on a Friday night, Keystone struggled to make shots. Point guard Madyson Sokolowki was the only player to score.
Once the Wildcats settled down and saw Brooklyn Barber score the opening basket, it was the momentum needed to string together scoring possessions.
“There was a lot of positive energy in the locker room (at halftime),” Barber said. “The only thing that was going on was that we weren’t making shots. We didn’t have a lot of turnovers. The defense was great. It was our shots that weren’t falling. We had a positive attitude, and we fixed it.”
Keystone point guard Helayna Houston (over 40% from 3-point range) hit a 3-point shot at the end of the third quarter to tie the game at 20-20.
“That (shot) was the best feeling in the world,” Houston said. “We know when we are in a tough situation like that, one of us has to hit a shot. When one of us hits a shot, everyone else gets hyped with each other and we start playing together. The momentum puts us all together.”
Coach Houston referred to his daughter’s moment as a senior night moment.
“I told her that it’s senior night; be a leader,” he said. “She hit
that first one and then she hit another one and everything changed. Our confidence was up and all of a sudden Rylee (Jedrzejek) hits a 3 and we got baskets going to the hoop.”
As Keystone’s shots fell, Columbia struggled to keep up. Keystone went on a 9-0 run in a game that had points that were at a premium.
“The biggest thing was that we didn’t make shots,” Columbia coach Corey Taylor said. “We got good looks at the basket, as opposed to last time when we played them at our place in the fourth quarter, we weren’t even getting a look at the basket. We got good looks. We just have to be able to make them.”
Keystone kept its undefeated season alive with a 19-0 (12-0 in LC8) record. It is the only remaining undefeated team in the LC8.
Its LC8 championship is only a title share. The Wildcats will have to win its road game against Firelands on Feb. 7 to clinch an outright championship.
As a result, Keystone cut down the nets. Fans and family members came down to the court to celebrate.
“It was definitely a super exciting night. Obviously, going into the game, we were all kind of on our toes; super stressed out. We knew that it was going to be hard, a competition and a good game the whole time.”
Neither team had a player reach double figures. However, Barber and Sokolowski led the Wildcats with nine points each. Barber also had four rebounds and two steals. Sokolowski recorded four steals. Houston contributed with seven points.
Columbia dropped its second game of the season, in which the other loss was to Keystone, 48-47, in overtime. The Raiders’ record went to 16-2 (10-2 in LC8).
Columbia is still technically not out of the hunt, but that is if Keystone loses to Firelands (Feb. 7) and Wellington (Feb. 14). The Raiders will also have to win their remaining LC8 games against Oberlin and Clearview.
Columbia will have one game in between its next LC8 game, which will be against Westlake on Feb. 5.
Sadie Schulke led the Raiders with eight points and Elise Champagne scored seven.