KNOX, Pa. (D9Sports) – Trailing by two to Keystone midway through the third quarter, Clarion-Limestone decided to turn about the defensive pressure.
The result was a game-ending 33-16 run that turned a 32-30 deficit with under 12 minutes to play into a 63-48 win by the visiting Lions that snapped a 10-game winning streak for Keystone while pushing C-L’s win streak to six.
Dan Callen, who had 21 points and 17 rebounds, played a key role in the turnaround scoring 19 of his points and grabbing 12 of his rebounds after halftime. He scored 11 of C-L’s first 13 points while adding an assist during a 15-2 run that turned a 32-30 deficit into a 45-34 lead.
Callen, who was named the Hager Paving Player of the Game, talked about his play and the win after the game.
Three straight points over a span of 33 seconds by Austin Ion, who finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds, had given Keystone a 32-30 lead with 3:59 to play in the third quarter.
But a Callen basket with 3:44 left tied the game at 32, and C-L head coach Joe Ferguson called a 30-second timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Lions went to the press and back-to-back turnovers occurred for Keystone with Callen finishing after both of them to put C-L ahead for good, 36-32.
“It wasn’t anything that should have caused us any trouble at all,” Keystone head coach Greg Heath said. “It was simple ball security things and getting yourself under control mentally and getting mentally tough, thinking about ball security. It was just as much us as it was them turning the ball over. We just kind of played into their hands. It wasn’t because it was extraordinary pressure or anything. Although, I do give them credit. I think they did step it up defensively in the second half. But I thought it was just us mentally, we just were not tough enough.”
Ion tried to keep Keystone close hitting a shot to make it 36-34 and then coming up with a steal that looked like it would end in a breakaway layup.
But Dan Callen made perhaps the play of the game chasing Ion down and blocking his shot, and C-L turned that into a Mac Park basket off a Dan Callen pass on the other end followed by an old-school two-point play from Dan Callen, two more free throws from Dan Callen and two free throws by Ian Callen to go up by 11, 45-34, with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
A 3-pointer by Corey Rapp, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and a Dalton Jones bucket, seemed to right the ship a bit for Keystone getting the Panthers back within six, 45-39, late in the quarter.
But Ian Callen made one of two free throws with 1.4 seconds left in the quarter to start a 15-5 run that allowed the Lions to put the game away. Dan Callen again played a key role during the stretch scoring six points and dishing out another assist.
Heath believed a slow start hurt Keystone just as much as the last 12 minutes.
The Panthers missed their first seven shots and were just 3 of 13 shooting in the first quarter and 6 of 22 in the first half but trailed by just two, 21-19, at halftime thanks in large part to C-L hitting on 9 of 35 first-half shots including 5 of 20 in the second quarter.
“As many easy shots as we missed in the first half, we should have had a really nice lead at halftime,” Heath said. “That was really a big part of the game right there. We could not settle down. I think we missed five layups.”
An inability to settle down hurt his team, according to Heath.
“I think that was the story of the night,” Heath said. “We never got to the point, and maybe that is a lack of experience, where we could settle down. We played hard. We worked hard. But I never thought we settled down and got under control mentally. We don’t have a lot of the big game experience like those guys do. Hopefully we will learn from that and next time we can settle down a little.”
Ian Callen added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Lions with Christian Smith also scoring 13 points and Sam Leadbetter adding six points and 10 rebounds.
Nate Wingard chipped in 10 points and five boards for Keystone with Dalton Jones also scoring 10 points.
C-L outrebounded the Panthers 50-35 including 18-7 on the offensive glass with Dan Callen ripping down seven offensive rebounds.
C-L improves to 10-3 with the win with Keystone, which lost for the first time since Dec. 9, dropping to 10-2. The Lions return to action Thursday at Clearfield, while Keystone is back in action Friday against Forest Area at West Forest.
CLARION-LIMESTONE 63, KEYSTONE 48
Score by Quarters
Clar.-Limestone 9 12 25 17 – 63
Keystone 9 10 20 9 – 48
Clarion-Limestone – 63
Julian Laugand 1 1-3 3, Sam Leadbetter 3 0-0 6, Ian Callen 4 5-8 13, Christian Smith 4 3-3 13, Dan Callen 9 3-4 21, Deion Deas 1 0-0 3, Mac Park 1 0-0 2, Chris Callen-Deal 1 0-0 2, Noah Port 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 12-18 63.
Keystone – 48
Austin Ion 6 3-7 15, Dalton Jones 4 0-0 10, Tanner Wilson 1 0-0 2, Corey Rapp 3 3-6 11, Nate Wingard 3 2-2 10, Ian Henry 0 0-0 0, Connor Exley 0 0-0 0, Brooks LaVan 0 0-0 0, Isaak Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 8-15 48.
Three-pointers: C-L 3 (Smith 2, Deas). Keystone 6 (D. Jones 2, Rapp 2, Wingard 2).
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