KNOX, Pa. (D9Sports) – DuBois sophomore forward Chase Husted hit a wide open short jumper just before the buzzer to give the Beavers a thrilling 58-57 win over Clarion in the opening round of the Keystone Tip-Off Tournament.
Husted was so wide open to take the feed from Jonathan Cruz that he knew he would take some good-natured ribbing from his teammates if had missed the shot.
“I saw my man go up and Cruz get double teamed,” Husted said. “Cruz’s pass was perfect. It was just right there for me. I just had to put it in.
“When I was going on up I was like you better make this or you are going to be in a little bit of trouble. I was alright shooting that.”
More from Husted, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
While it was jubilation for DuBois, it was heartbreak for Clarion, which thought it had won the game just seconds before when Josh Craig made his only basket of the game on a short runner with 11.1 seconds left to put the Bobcats ahead, 57-56.
“We thought we had who we believed were our best defenders (on the court),” Clarion head coach Jess Quinn said. “In hindsight, I would have had someone else in on the big guy (Husted). That way, it would have limited someone leaving him to go trap.
“It’s a teachable moment. We will look at the film and see that it should not have come down to that shot. We missed several opportunities on bunnies and layups. We did not shoot the ball as well as we had in the last two scrimmages. Maybe it is the first-game jitters. We will learn from it.”
Clarion trailed by eight, 51-43 after DuBois went on a 13-2 run that ended on a 3-pointer by Justin Manduley, who had a team-high 20 points, with 4:37 to play.
But the Bobcats clawed back in the game behind Austin Hummell, who netted a game-best 28 points to go with eight rebounds, including 24 second-half points.
Hummell scored eight of Clarion’s next 12 points including twice putting the Bobcats in front in the closing minutes – first at 53-52 and then again at 55-54.
But DuBois answered both times with Husted’s basket at 1:18 giving the Beavers a 54-53 lead and then Kenny Garvey hitting two free throws with 21.3 seconds left to give DuBois a 56-55 lead
Still, Josh Craig, the younger brother of point guard Cam Craig, scored his only bucket of the game to give Clarion the lead back.
DuBois then called timeout with 4.9 seconds to play, and even head coach Scott Creighton couldn’t have dreamed of Husted, his 6-foot-6 center, to be that wide open.
But while Quinn wasn’t happy with the way Husted was left open – DuBois actually had two players wide open in the paint area – he was less thrilled with the way his team executed on offense.
“We came down and looked like we have the last two years,” Quinn said. “We passed it around the perimeter, and we stand. That is something we have tried to correct the last two years and we are still doing the same thing. If that is going to continue this year we will barely make the playoffs.”
Even with the offense not running the way the head coach wanted it to, Clarion was able to stay in the game with its defense, which forced 33 DuBois turnovers.
“When I came in that is what we focused on, defense, defense, defense,” Quinn said. “These guys have been here two, three years with me, and they know what to expect on the defensive end.”
ST. MARYS 51, KEYSTONE 44
In the nightcap of the opening day of the tournament, the host Keystone Panthers dug themselves a hole they couldn’t get out of in dropping a 51-44 decision to St. Marys.
St. Marys started the game on a 17-4 run that featured a pair of 3-pointers from Austin Goodrow and another triple by Nathan Schneider, who had 10 of his game-high 28 points in the first quarter and 21 in the first half.
But down 13 at halftime, 35-22, Keystone fought back in the second half first cutting the St. Marys lead to seven, 43-36, by the end of the third quarter thanks to seven third-quarter points from Corey Rapp, who finished with 22 on the night, and then starting the fourth quarter with a 6-2 spurt to get within three, 45-42, on a Nate Wingard 3-pointer with 5:03 left.
Wingard’s three, though, was the last made basket of the game for the Panthers, who had a missed three from Brooks LaVan with just over four minutes to play that would have tied the game and then a turnover shortly after that while still down three.
Schneider then started to put the game away when he extended the lead to five with a basket with 2:38 to go, and a pair of free throws by Jared Groll pushed the lead to six, 49-43, with 1:56 to go.
And even though the Dutch missed five of seven free throws down the stretch, Keystone’s offense never could take advantage.
SATURDAY SCHEDULE SET
Keystone and Clarion will meet in the consolation game at 6 p.m. Saturday, while DuBois and St. Marys play for the title at 7:30 p.m.
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