WESTLAKE — Keystone’s matchup with Bay in the Division II district semifinal Wednesday night summed up the Wildcats’ season nicely.
The Wildcats looked good — at times even great — but they also had a few struggles that ultimately took their toll as the Rockets came away with a 51-39 victory.
The sixth-seeded Rockets (11-12) advance to Friday’s 7 p.m. district final against West Shore Conference foe Vermilion — the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The Sailors swept the regular-season series with
58-48 and 64-44 wins.
Keystone (12-11) finished the season with a pair of tournament wins after bowing out in the opening round last year.
“We had shots and opportunities out there,” Keystone coach Greg Morgan said. “But we didn’t hit the shots we needed to and that turned into a drought in the second half that we couldn’t recover from.
“We got things going in the second quarter but we just couldn’t carry that over into the second half.”
Keystone turned it up in the second quarter after a
3-pointer by Bay’s Kyle Banal gave the Rockets a 17-9 lead. Back-to-back baskets by Kyle Shaw ignited a 16-10 Keystone run that closed the gap to
27-25 at the intermission.
The interlude didn’t cool Shaw, who opened the second half with a bucket to tie the score, but Bay quickly grabbed the momentum again and began to build a lead.
Bay’s Pat McGlynn, who was flustered after being called for a pair of offensive fouls at the end of the third quarter, turned that frustration into motivation. The 6-foot-4 senior had a pair of steals and forced a third as the Rockets pushed the lead to 39-30 with 4:08 remaining.
“I was just trying to get the team into it,” said McGlynn. “Good defense always gets things going in the right direction. I didn’t play as well on the offensive end as I wanted to so I looked to make a difference on the defensive end.”
Keystone cut it to 46-39 before Banal hit five straight free throws to seal the win.
“We knew coming in that this wasn’t going to be easy,” Bay coach Jason Frolo said. “It was a tough game and we were able to get things going defensively.
“Pat never thinks he commits a foul. So when he got called for the pair of them he turned things up.”
Morgan pointed to the leadership of his four seniors (Shaw, Mike Herb, Jeff Knepper and Nick Wilmouth) as a big reason for the Wildcats’ two postseason wins.
“It was a long year and the kids never gave up even when it seemed like they would,” said Morgan. “Our senior leadership helped put the regular season behind us and focus on the postseason. They did a tremendous job in helping us focus on the task at hand and not what had happened in the past.”
Contact Hans Schneider at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Bay 51, Keystone 39

BAY (51) — Kyle Banal 4-5-16, Pat McGlynn 3-6-12, Adam Gorski 3-0-6, Brian Harrell 30-0-6, Ben Cullen 2-0-4, Rick Banal 2-0-4, Tom Campbell 1-0-3, Andy Gross 0-0-0. Totals: 18-11-51.
KEYSTONE (39) — Kyle Shaw 7-0-16, Jimmy Reid 2-1-5, Corey Smith 2-0-5, Kyle Smith 2-1-5, Matt Herb 2-0-4, Matt Osborne 1-2-4, Mike Herb 0-0-0, Jeff Knepper 0-0-0. Totals: 14-4-39.
Bay    14     13     8     16    —    51
Keystone    8     17     5     9    —    39
Three-point goals — Bay 4 (K. Banal 3, Campbell), Keystone 3 (Shaw 2, Smith). Fields goals — Bay 18 of 38 (47 percent), Keystone 16 of 48 (33 percent). Free Throws — Bay 11 of 24 (45 percent), Keystone 4 of 8 (50 percent). Rebounds — Bay 29 (McGlynn 10), Keystone 31 (Osborne 7). Turnovers — Bay 8, Keystone 13. Fouls — Bay 8, Keystone 16. Fouled out — Herb.
 

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