Frankfort outscores Keyser in third quarter, holds on to win 67-59

Dec. 24—KEYSER, W.Va. — No. 4 Frankfort outscored No. 5 Keyser 22-13 in the third quarter and it proved to be the difference for the Falcons in their 67-59 win on Friday.

"I like that defensively, we played solid," Frankfort head coach Scott Slider said. "We asked the boys to play solid, they came out and played solid. There were times we didn't play as well defensively, but overall we did a nice job."

This was the second game for the Tornado without their star Noah Broadwater, who injured his knee in practice on Tuesday and is now out for the season.

Broadwater was Keyser's leading scorer, averaging 17 points per game. In what ended up being his final high school basketball game, he scored 21 points in a 53-45 win over Hampshire on Dec. 15.

His absence was felt, especially in the first half. Patrick Liller and Jace Courrier led the team with six points. They were the only players to score more than one field goal.

"It's kind of by committee to see where we're going," Keyser head coach Scott Furey said. "What we've had the last couple years is a lot of spread and length. Noah and Jack (Stanislawczyk), some of the quicker guards being able to take you off the dribble."

Leading by two points at halftime, the Falcons (3-2) began to create a cushion in the third quarter.

"Often times, we're in too much catch and shoot," Furey said. "We're getting one and done, we're not getting those long rebounds. Last year a lot of our success came from driving and getting to the rim. We have to kind of get back to that."

In the first 90 seconds of the quarter, Jeremiah Babo scored a layup, recorded a steal and hit a free throw.

Babo's efforts gave Frankfort a 32-26 lead with 6:25 left in the quarter.

"We did a better job of catching it and looking up the floor," Slider said. "Finding the guys up the floor. First half, we were a lot slower getting the ball up. We weren't looking up at our guys. We weren't pushing the pass up."

Drew Matlick and Patrick Liller each hit 3-pointers for the Golden Tornado (2-4) to tie the game at 32.

The Falcons responded with 15 unanswered points. Babo contributed five including an and-one layup with a steal. He scored 10 of his 14 points in the third quarter with a pair of steals.

"He got up the floor in fast break opportunities," Slider said. "We were getting the basketball and he was putting it in the hole. That's exactly what you ask him to do, that's exactly what he did."

Cam Layton and Darius Gray were also key. Gray assisted Layton on a 3-pointer and Layton returned the favor on the next possession, setting up Gray for a 3-pointer.

Keyser broke its scoring drought on a hook shot by Kameron Samples off Layton Valentine's assist. The Tornado outscored the Falcons 5-3 to enter the fourth trailing 50-39.

Bryson McKenzie found Cam Lynch, who hit a contested layup, to put Frankfort up 52-39 with 6:44 left in the game.

The Golden Tornado rallied, going on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 56-51.

Grayson Lambka was key during the run. He scored five points with two steals and two assists and finished the game with eight points, four assists and three steals.

"If there's anybody right now that reminds me of Noah, it's Grayson," Furey said. "The way things kind of go as far as effort. He doesn't mind getting to the rim."

Lambka set up Evan Ack for a 3-pointer to make it a five-point game with four minutes remaining.

The Falcons responded with back-to-back scores from Babo. Both were set up by two passes from Layton recording the assist on both plays.

Off a missed free throw, Liller grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to cut Keyser's deficit to 60-55 with 2:14 left.

"We just know we're gonna keep plugging away," Furey said. "Getting to the line 12 times (in the fourth quarter) shows us that we did go to the rim a whole lot more. That was our biggest thing, we want to make sure we're not just chucking (it) from the cheap seats."

With 1:07 left, Frankfort led 63-57. Keyser missed two shots inside the paint and was forced to foul.

"If anyone thought the game was over, you better sit down, buckle in for a little bit longer," Slider said. "Normally, that game finishes with a one-point win."

It was a physical game from the start, as expected between bitter rivals.

The first quarter was very competitive as neither team led by more than one possession. There were four lead changes and three ties.

"We knew it was gonna be physical," Slider said. "These games are always physical. It always comes down to the wire."

No player had more than five points for either team as Keyser led 15-13 at the end of one.

Frankfort trailed 20-13 after Lambka found Liller for a 3-pointer with 6:22 left in the first half.

The Falcons scored seven straight led by Uriah Cutter to tie the game. He set up McKenzie for a 3-pointer and followed with a put back for the tie.

At 22-all with 2:49 remaining, Frankfort took a 28-23 lead on scores from Lynch and Layton. Layton's was an and-one layup to push the lead to five.

In the final seconds of the first half, Liller recorded a steal and Ian Spiker scored on a put back to cut Keyser's halftime deficit to 28-26.

"Us dribble driving to the hoop a lot more and to the mid range and drawing some contact helped us stop the clock," Furey said.

Lynch led all scorers with 16 points, adding three blocks, two steals and two assists. Layton added 15 points with four assists and a steal.

"He's seeing the floor, he's seeing where the shots are," Slider said. "He made a couple nice moves to the bucket."

Babo finished with two steals and two blocks.

Liller led Keyser with 15 points and a steal.

"He's a deadeye shooter, he can really shoot it," Furey said. "He'll probably get a lot more attention now that Noah's not there."

Frankfort is at Philip Barbour on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Keyser hosts North Marion on Saturday at 3 p.m. It's a rematch of last year's Region I final that the Huskies won 63-61 in double overtime.

"I'm sure our guys are ready to play that game," Furey said. "I'm sure they are too. I'm sure our guys are ready to hopefully wash that taste out of our mouth. I know Noah really wanted to play in that one. We gotta make sure we take care of the section first. Hampshire and Berkeley are the two we've got to take care of for sure to set us up for the best possible regional matchup to get to Charleston."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Email him with scores and story suggestions at jkendall@times-news.com.