WESTLAKE — Keystone led Avon only four times throughout the game.
The first was with a minute left in the first quarter and the second was with 5:59 left in the half. The third was with 2:00 left in the game when Kyle Shaw hit a jumper to give the Wildcats a one-point advantage. The fourth and most important was at the end of the game on a defensive goaltending call with seven seconds left that gave them a 50-49 victory in a Division II sectional final at Westlake High that sent the Eagles packing.
Keystone led 12-8 with less than a minute left in the quarter when Avon scored five points to take the lead 13-12.
It was a similar story at the end of the opening half. After going 4:49 without scoring a point, but only trailing by three, 21-18, Keystone’s Jimmy Reid made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to two points. Again, as at the end of the first quarter, Avon came back with five points to up the lead to 26-19 at intermission.
Avon (12-9) stretched the lead to seven, 41-34, at the end of three quarters by scoring four points in the last 30 seconds.
The final eight minutes saw Keystone (12-10) come back from a nine-point deficit, 43-34, to outscore the Eagles 16-7 to pull out the win. The last two points were credited to the Wildcats’ Matt Herb as Garrett Gronowski was called for goaltending after sweeping the ball off the backboard on its way down.
Matt Herb scored a game-high 18 points. Kyle Shaw chipped in 17 for the Wildcats. Only four players went into the scorebook for Avon with Steve Isaac leading the way with 16 followed by Kyle Gregory 13 and Marquis Harrell with 13 and Gronowski with eight.
“I thought we played good defense in the first half. We boxed out well and rebounded,” Keystone coach Greg Morgan said. “We did not finish very well. We weren’t looking for passes coming our way and our guards weren’t getting around their guards. We also weren’t looking to finish with our big guys.
“In the second half we didn’t box out as well or rebound as well, but we started to finish well and make some plays. At the end, I told the players not to look at me for plays. I told them it was a player’s game, so go out and make some plays and win it, and they did.”
“It came down to a one possession game,” Avon coach Jim Baker said. “Too many costly turnovers and too many missed free throws. We just didn’t get stops when we needed them. It came down to they made one more play than we did.
“We’ve got to say goodbye to some really good kids. I’ve been doing this for 26 years and I’m so proud of what these guys did to represent our community. They’re some great kids and I guess that’s what makes it so hard to end it sooner than we obviously wanted to.”
Contact Ron Nenadal at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. 

Keystone 50, Avon 49

KEYSTONE (50): Kyle Shaw 7-0-17, Matt Herb 8-2-18, Jimmy Reid 3-3-9, Kyle Smith 1-0-3, Corey Smith 1-0-2, Mike Herb 0-1-1, Sam Bialosky 0-0-0, Matt Osborne 0-0-0, Jef Knepper 0-0-0, Joe Keger 0-0-0, Nick Wilmot 0-0-0. Totals 20-6-50.
AVON (49): Kyle Gregory 5-1-13, Garrett Gronowski 4-0-8, Steve Isaac 7-1-16, Matt Logan 0-0-0, Marquis Harrell 2-8-12, Ryan O’Rourke 0-0-0, Andrew Wimmer 0-0-0, Parker Rimann 0-0-0, Matt Joseph 0-0-0, John Harrison 0-0-0, Erik Stump 0-0-0. Totals 18-10-49.
Keystone     12    7    15        16        —  50
Avon    13    13    15    8         —  49
Three-point goals: Keystone (4): Shaw 3, K Smith. Avon: (3) Gregory 2, Isaac. Field goals:  19-38, Avon 18-39. Free throws: Keystone 6-10, Avon 10-19. Rebounds: Keystone 20 (Shaw/Mike Herb 6) Avon 23 (Gronowski 9). Turnovers: Keystone 21, Avon 17. Fouls: Keystone 15, Avon 12.

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