Keystone Ends Brookville’s Season in Overtime


CLARION, Pa. (D9SPORTS) – Austin Ion said it was just like practice.

Expect it was anything but like practice.

In fact, it was possibly the most pressure-filled moment of the Keystone junior’s young career.

With his team down three, 52-49, facing elimination with 10.1 seconds left, Ion drilled a game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the left wing to force overtime.

Austin-Ion-Keystone-Mike-Schnelle

Austin Ion – Photo Mike Schnelle

Ion then scored five of Keystone’s eight overtime points, and the third-seeded Panthers are headed to the District 9 Class AA quarterfinals thanks to a 60-56 overtime win against sixth-seeded Brookville Thursday night at Clarion High School.

“It’s just another shot,” Ion said of his game-tying triple. “Shooting in the gym, by myself, with my teammates, zoning everybody out and let her fly.”

Ion started overtime like he ended regulation nailing a 3-pointer to put the Panthers in the lead for good 30 seconds into the extra frame.

“I have to credit my teammates for that, getting me the ball,” Ion, who scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, said. “They fed me the ball at the end of the game. They fed me the ball at the start of overtime. Without them, I can’t get hot and keep putting it in.”

Up three with 20.7 seconds left, Brookville had a chance to salt the game away when Keystone fouled Jordan Tosh. But Tosh missed both free throws setting up the game-tying shot.

“Just get the rebound and push it down court and get some points quick,” Ion said when asked about what he’s thinking about when Tosh missed.

The game was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than six points.

Brookville’s 6-point advantage came early when they led 13-7 after one quarter.

Keystone’s 6-point lead was later, 39-33 at the start of the fourth quarter and 40-34 50 seconds into the final quarter.

But none of those leads lasted long in a game filled with runs for both teams.

Keystone started the second quarter with an 11-0 run that helped them forge a 20-all halftime tie.

Brookville had a 12-2 fourth-quarter run that put them up four, 46-42, on a 3-pointer by Ben Reitz, who finished with 15 points, with five minutes to go.

Keystone followed Reitz’s three with a quick 5-0 spurt of its own that was capped by an old-school 3-point play by Brayden Shick that gave the Panthers a 47-46 lead with 4:22 left.

Kurt Schindler, who was held to a season-low five points, put Brookville back ahead with an elbow jumper with 2:26 left, and a pair of Jimmy Moore free throws jumped the lead to three, 50-47, with 1:15 to go in regulation. Moore finished with a game-high 24 points, his sixth 20-point game of the year.

Tanner Wilson got Keystone back within one, 50-49, with two foul shot at 1:05, but Reitz hit two free throws with 44 seconds left to push the lead back to three.

In overtime, after Ion’s three gave Keystone the lead, Reitz, who scored all four of Brookville’s extra session points, got the Raiders back within one, 55-54, with 2:20 to go. But that was as close as Brookville got.

Ion upped the lead to three with a layup with 1:16 left, and Mason Rearick, who also had 17 points, made it 59-54 on a basket with 30 seconds to play.

Reitz got the Raiders back to three with 10 seconds left, but Shick hit the backend of a two-shot foul with 8.6 to play to seal the win.

“Give Keystone credit,” Brookville head coach Kevin Wolfe said. “They came out and played very well. They really like that zone defense, and played it pretty well. They’re active and clog things up.

“We just didn’t attack the basket like we have been, which was disappointing. When we attacked the rim, we got some good looks. We got fouls and opportunities. When we settled for jump shots, it didn’t turn out that well because we weren’t shooting well out there.”

Keystone (12-11) will face second-seeded Kane in the semifinals. Details on the game haven’t been announced.

Brookville finished the season at 8-15.

KEYSTONE 60, BROOKVILLE 56, OVERTIME

Score by Quarters

Brookville 13 7 13 19 4 – 56

Keystone 7 13 19 13 8 – 60

BROOKVILLE – 56

Kurt Schindler 2 1-3 5, Seth Ray 1 0-0 3, Jordan Tosh 1 0-2 2, Colton Singleton 2 0-1 4, Jimmy Moore 7 7-8 24, Ben Reitz 4 5-8 15, Hayden Burge 1 0-0 2, Bryan Dworek 0 1-2 1. totals 18 14-24 56.

KEYSTONE – 60

Austin Ion 7 0-0 17, Brayden Shick 5 2-3 14, Mason Rearick 8 0-0 17, Tanner Wilson 0 6-10 6, Braden Jones 3 0-2 6, Nate Wingard 0 0-0 0, Corey Rapp 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Hogue 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-15 60.

THREE-POINTERS – Brookville 6 (Moore 3, Reitz 2, Ray). Keystone 6 (Ion 3, Shick 2, Rearick).


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