Girls district basketball: Keystone dominates overtime, beats Holy Name

ELYRIA - Keystone went more than nine minutes - the final minutes of regulation - without scoring a field goal. The Wildcats managed only two points in the fourth quarter.

“I guess we made up for it in overtime,” Keystone coach Scott Terry said.

That was an understatement. Keystone emerged from its rut to outscore Holy Name 12-0 in the four-minute extra period Saturday afternoon to post a

48-36 victory in the championship game of the Elyria district.

The victory lifted top-seeded Keystone (21-2) into its first-ever Division II regional semifinal at Ontario High School on Tuesday evening against Lima Bath.

Keystone’s last district championship came in 2002 when the Wildcats were in Division III. Holy Name, the No. 2 seed, ended its year 18-6.

The Wildcats dominated the overtime but were fortunate to have the chance to do so. Molly Sebald was fouled in the act of shooting by Keystone’s Karli Sturgill with 5.6 seconds to play in regulation and the score tied. Sebald, who will play basketball at Gannon University next year, missed both shots.

“She wants to be in that situation,” Holy Name coach Kim Luthman said. “It just did not go the way she wanted this time. I told her that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.”

Keystone didn’t crumble when given its reprieve.

“Coach told us it’s time to have fun,” junior Emily Kolar said. “That’s when we play our best - when we’re having fun.”

Kolar had all kinds of fun, scoring nine of her game-high 19 points in overtime.  Kolar scored 33 points in two district games after averaging fewer than seven points a game this season before the district.

“Emily Kolar stepped up so big,” Terry said.  “I can’t say enough about the way she could hit key baskets and make free throws.”

Kolar got the party started with a 3-point basket with 3:40 remaining - the Wildcats’ first field goal in almost 10 minutes.

“That was such a momentum changer,” Terry said. “A light went on for our team after that. I think they all knew they were going to win.”

“I’m so shocked,” said junior Emily Nagy, who had 10 points. “I’m so happy I can’t even describe it.”

Mackenzie Conrad also came up huge for the Wildcats with six assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Conrad’s biggest steal happened with 3:08 left in overtime, after Holy Name’s Taylor Krusinski rebounded Keystone’s only missed field goal of the extra period. Conrad immediately pulled the ball out of Krusinski’s hands under the basket and was fouled by Krusinski while shooting. She hit one of her two chances to make the score 40-36.

An even bigger play came more than a minute later, after Kolar hit a runner along the baseline to give Keystone a 42-36 lead. Holy Name inbounded and called a timeout with 1:40 left, and a frustrated Sebald slammed the ball to the floor. A technical foul was charged, and Kolar sank both free throws to just about put the game out of the reach of the Green Wave.

While Keystone went through a 10-minute drought, Holy Name failed to score in the game’s last eight minutes. A basket by Krusinski with four minutes to play that gave the Green Wave a 36-34 lead was the last points Holy Name would get.

“We’re capable of doing that,” Terry said of his team’s defense. “We held a conference opponent without a field goal in the first half this year. We’ve done it before.

“We had the right plan and the girls executed it perfectly,” Terry continued. “We doubled down on Krusinski and knew where Sebald was at all times.”

Krusinski scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half. She and teammate Kim Cook topped all rebounders with 12 and seven, respectively, as the Wave outrebounded Keystone 28-21.

The Wildcats scored 10 in a row to open a 14-6 lead and were ahead 17-8 before Holy Name had a 10-point run of its own.

The Green Wave tied the score at 28 and 34 before Krusinski’s layup midway through the fourth quarter gave Holy Name its final lead. Conrad gave Keystone its only points of the last period when she hit two free throws with 2:52 to play.

Conrad rebounded Sebald’s second missed free throw at the close of regulation, but the ‘Cats failed to get off a shot before time expired.

Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or stephenbyrne@att.net.