LAGRANGE — The Keystone girls athletic teams are used
to success.
From winning a state championship in softball in 2006 and going to regionals in
volleyball and basketball, the Wildcat girls programs work hard to keep that
great success going every year.
“Winning spreads,” Keystone head coach Scott Terry said. “We’ve had some
successful programs throughout the years here. Softball has taken the lead with
that. Going back many years, and back in the early 2000s, you had volleyball and
basketball going to regionals. It’s a hump that’s hard for a lot of schools to
get over, but Keystone has found a way to do that.”
With all the sports success at the Division II level, Terry also knows it comes
with a price.
“There’s that expectation with our girls, regardless what sport that they play,”
Terry said. “There’s a lot of tradition and a lot of responsibility to work hard
and try and be successful. We’re very blessed to have that situation, to have a
winning tradition and it’s not something that’s easy to come by.”
This season, Keystone girls basketball has clinched its fifth straight Patriot
Athletic Conference title. The Wildcats are a win away from finishing its PAC
season undefeated at 13-0 for the third time in five years. They’ve only lost
four conference games during their five-year run.
“We talk about tradition and no one wants to let that tradition down,” Terry
said. “There’s nothing like cutting down the nets. It’s a great feeling. It’s
something that we focus on. We always say our first objective is to win
conference and then we’ll start setting some tournament goals after that. We
love to see the banners going up and we love to see the nets coming down. The
girls have really done a nice job over the years. I’ve been blessed to have a
great bunch of kids.”
Senior captain Karli Sturgill has been a part of the last four PAC titles and
credited the community for their support.
“No matter what sport it is, they’re always right behind us,” Sturgill said. “I
think that since our school is so centered around excellence and having success,
no matter what sport it is, our town backs us up and all the people in the
school are all about in helping us with our success.”
Keystone has been led by the play of its starting five, which includes Sturgill
and four juniors (Emily Nagy, Mackenzie Conrad, Alisha Silva and Danielle
Wilmoth). Nagy leads the team at 13 points and four rebounds per game, while
Conrad scores nine and grabs nearly six rebounds per game. Silva averages seven
points and dishes nearly three assists per game, while Wilmoth (5.3), Emily
Kolar, a junior, (5.1 ppg), Jamie Senk, a senior, (4.5 ppg) and Sturgill (4 ppg)
round out the balanced scoring attack. Senior Molly Cornish (2.5 ppg) and junior
Mallory Nagy (3.3 ppg) have come off the bench and have also contributed to the
team’s success. “One of the things that has really stood out with this
basketball team is they’re very unselfish,” Terry said. “They love sharing the
basketball. We have a ton of assists every game. It really is a fun game to
watch when that happens. This is a resilient bunch.”
Last Monday, Keystone hit its first bump in the road since an opening night loss
to Elyria Catholic. The Wildcats had a 15-game winning streak snapped in a
non-conference road loss to Walsh Jesuit. Despite Walsh Jesuit’s losing record,
it plays one of the toughest schedules every year.
“Their record is a little deceiving,” Terry said. “They play a very, very tough
schedule. Here’s a team that’s going into the state tournament with a losing
record (6-11) that has a real good shot of making it to the regionals. We got
off to a little bit of a slow start. It was hard to overcome, but it certainly
wasn’t a lack of effort. I think our girls probably learned more in that
basketball game than the 15 games we won prior to that. I’m looking forward to
these girls bouncing back. I think we’ll be prepared come tournament time.”
The loss was sort of a wake-up call for a lot of the players, including Conrad.
“That loss really got us,” Conrad said. “It really opened our eyes to how we’re
going to need to play in those games. In these next few games, we know we’re
going to have to go out and play as hard as we can. Come postseason time, we’re
going to have to play with even more intensity than we’ve had before.
“Defense leads to our transition game. We ran a lot against teams (during
winning streak) that we were playing. We play a real fast game, getting up the
court and moving the ball really well.”
Overall, Keystone is 17-2 and has outscored its opponents by 379 points and has
won games by an average of 21 points per game. The Wildcats will have a
first-round bye in their D-II Elyria District. On Feb. 26, the Wildcats will
face the winner of Fairview-Clearview (Feb. 21).
“We love winning,” Sturgill said. “(Winning the PAC) five times in a row and
I’ve been her for four of them, it’s been awesome. It’s kind of like we have to
do it. We’re not settling for anything less.”