LAGRANGE — The Lutheran West Longhorns capped a bad week for Keystone by holding on to give the Wildcats their second straight disappointing Patriot Athletic Conference loss, 54-50, Friday night.
Just a week ago, the Wildcats were riding high at 6-0 in the conference, but after a six-point loss at Clearview on Tuesday and Friday’s loss to the Longhorns, the ’Cats are 6-2 in the PAC, 8-5 overall.
They remain in first place in the Stars Division of the PAC, though the way the Wildcats lost Friday rankled Keystone coach Greg Morgan.
“We didn’t make adjustments to what they (the Longhorns) were doing,” he said. “We didn’t shoot well, we passed up good opportunities to take a charge and we were standing rather than boxing out. If you want to win championships, you have to get those things done.”
Keystone, which trailed by eight with 5:50 remaining fought back to cut the lead to 51-49 after Kyle Smith made a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining.
But the Wildcat defense broke down as the Longhorns’ Caleb O’Hara got the ball quickly to 6-foot-6 senior Stephon Seton, who slammed home a thunderous dunk that put the game away with just eight seconds left. A free throw by each team closed out the scoring.
“If we want to win our division championship I knew we had to win this game,” said Lutheran West coach Ray Durban, whose team remains on top of the PAC’s Stripes Division at 8-1, 9-4 overall. “It was a very big win for our guys. I have a lot of respect for Keystone.”
The teams traded leads, and 3-pointers, all night. After a pair of threes put the Longhorns up 11-4, the Wildcats came back to take a 12-11 first-period lead on a three by Caleb Schillace with a minute left and another by Jim Reid at the buzzer.
 But the Longhorns, whose starting lineup averaged 6-3, was dominating the boards, a trend that continued the rest of the game. They used their size effectively to score from the paint and off putbacks in the second quarter, taking a 25-20 lead at the half.
Both teams went back to the long ball in the third quarter as each team score three times from beyond the arc before the Longhorns again used their size inside to open a 45-37 lead with less than six minutes to play in the game.
At that point, the Wildcats began to take the ball inside. Matt Osborne hit a short jumper and Schillace scored twice off driving layups to close the margin to 49-46 with 50 seconds remaining. The last minute was wild as both teams turned the ball over before Smith’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Smith finished with 12 points.
Although the ’Horns crushed the Wildcats on the boards, 35-19, they also turned the ball over 19 times compared to Keystone’s nine miscues. The crucial difference was in the shooting statistics. While the Longhorns made 20 of 40 shots for 50 percent, the Wildcats were just 19-of-50 for 38 percent, and just 6-of-12 from the line.
“We respected their shooters,” Durban said of the Wildcats. “But we pride ourselves on our defense and we thought we could contest them pretty well.”
Seton, despite being in foul trouble much of the game, finished with 15 points.
“He played smart and within himself,” Durban said. “I’m glad he got the dunk at the end. He’s our leader.”
Although both of this week’s losses were close, Morgan was especially disappointed Friday night.
“The difference was night and day in our performance,” he said. “I was able to sleep Tuesday but I won’t be able to tonight.”
Contact Jim Jablonski at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
But the Longhorns, whose starting lineup averaged 6-3, was dominating the boards, a trend that continued the rest of the game. They used their size effectively to score from the paint and off putbacks in the second quarter, taking a 25-20 lead at the half.
Both teams went back to the long ball in the third quarter as each team score three times from beyond the arc before the Longhorns again used their size inside to open a 45-37 lead with less than six minutes to play in the game.
At that point, the Wildcats began to take the ball inside. Matt Osborne hit a short jumper and Schillace scored twice off driving layups to close the margin to 49-46 with 50 seconds remaining. The last minute was wild as both teams turned the ball over before Smith’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Smith finished with 12 points.
Although the ’Horns crushed the Wildcats on the boards, 35-19, they also turned the ball over 19 times compared to Keystone’s nine miscues. The crucial difference was in the shooting statistics. While the Longhorns made 20 of 40 shots for 50 percent, the Wildcats were just 19-of-50 for 38 percent, and just 6-of-12 from the line.
“We respected their shooters,” Durban said of the Wildcats. “But we pride ourselves on our defense and we thought we could contest them pretty well.”
Seton, despite being in foul trouble much of the game, finished with 15 points.
“He played smart and within himself,” Durban said. “I’m glad he got the dunk at the end. He’s our leader.”
Although both of this week’s losses were close, Morgan was especially disappointed Friday night.
“The difference was night and day in our performance,” he said. “I was able to sleep Tuesday but I won’t be able to tonight.”
Contact Jim Jablonski at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Lutheran West 54, Keystone 50

LUTHERAN WEST (54): Stephon Seton 7-1-15, James Ranc 4-2-13, Louis Durban 0-2-2, Caleb O’Hara 1-0-3, Cal Thomay 1-0-3, Dan Bailey 1-0-3, Ben Lehrke 3-1-7, Adam Moses 3-0-6, Marcus Spelich 0-2-2, Zach Hausman 0-0-0. Totals 20-9-54.
KEYSTONE (50): Kyle Smith 4-1-12, Caleb Schillace 4-1-11, Sam Bailosky 0-0-0, Jim Reid 2-1-6, Matt Osborne 2-0-4, Matt Herb 3-2-8, Joe Keger 4-1-9. Totals 19-6-50.
Lutheran West     11    14    14    15    —    54
Keystone    12    8    17    13    —    50
Three-point goals: Lutheran West 5-6 (O’Hara, Thomay, Ranc 3; Keystone 6-13 (Reid, Schillace 2, Smith 3). Field goals: Lutheran West 20-40 (50 percent); Keystone 19-50 (38 percent). Free throws: Lutheran West 9-11 (81 percent); Keystone 6-12 (50 percent). Turnovers: Lutheran West 19; Keystone 9. Rebounds: Lutheran West 35; Keystone 19. Total fouls: Lutheran West 16; Keystone 14.
Junior varsity: Lutheran West, 47-43.

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