KNOX, Pa. – Bret Wingard came up with the play of the year, the play of his career, to help Keystone beat visiting Union 59-56, on a night when Union’s Caden Rainey scored his 1,000th career point.
With the game tied at 56 with 36.9 seconds left, Wingard chased down Rainey, who had just stolen the ball and was on a breakaway, and blocked the ball off the backboard to preserve the tie.
“I just said to Bret, that might be the single best block I have ever seen at Keystone High Schoo,” Keystone head coach Greg Heath, who has been coaching the Panthers since 1985 after having played for Keystone in the late 1970s, said. “Coming from behind like he did, left hand, all ball. It was terrific.”
For his part, Wingard said he just knew he had to make a play.
“I knew we couldn’t afford a turnover right there,” Wingard said. “I saw (Rainey) steal it, and I had to go get it.”
Watch Wingard’s interview
Tyler Albright, who had the game of his career with a career-high 19 points, grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Dawson Camper 80-plus feet from the basket.
With the Panthers in the 1-and-1, Albright calmly sank both charity shots to give Keystone a 58-56 lead with 33.9 seconds to play.
Wingard then gave Keystone a 3-point lead when he hit the backend of a two-shot foul with three seconds to play, and Rainey’s desperation heave at the end fell short.
“This was a big win versus a team that I think is very good,” Heath said. “I think they may be the best team in the other division, I don’t know. There are some good teams over there. BUt they are certainly one of the best.”
Keystone, which trailed 44-41 going to the fourth quarter, led 53-50 following back-to-back 3-pointers from Albright and Zander McHenry, part of an 11 3-pointer night for the Panthers, with just under four-and-half minutes to play.
But Union answered with a 6-0 spurt that included four points from Payton Johnston, who tied Rainey for the team lead with 14 points, to take a 56-53 lead with just over three minutes left.
Things, however, fell apart for the Golden Knights at that point.
First, Rainey missed a breakaway layup that would have given Union a five-point cushion.
Then with the score 56-54, Skyler Roxbury took a wide-open but ill-advised 3-pointer that gave Keystone the ball back.
That led to the Golden Knights fouling McHenry taking an off-balance 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:08 to play.
McHenry hit the first and the last free throw of the 3-shot foul to tie the game at 56.
“It shouldn’t be a teaching moment in early January,” Mortimer said. “We’ve been stressing to them to watch Hudl, watch all the games, learn from your experiences. They are having trouble learning from their experiences.”
A 22-point second quarter helped Union take a 31-28 halftime lead and the teams then played to a stalemate in the third quarter despite Union getting the lead to a game-high eight points, 36-28, in the first two minutes of the second half.
Three-pointers from Albright and McHenry helped Keystone stay within three. 44-41, going to the final eight minutes.
Keystone moved to 3-6 on the season and hosts Redbank Valley Tuesday, while Union saw its three-game win streak end while falling to 6-4. The Golden Knights are slated to play at Ridgway Monday, weather permitting.
NOTES: Heath, whose team had played just once since Dec. 28 and had practiced only three times since then, had the quote of the year about his team playing perhaps its best game of the season despite not practicing – “Maybe that’s the secret. Maybe we’re just not going to practice from now on.” … He might be on to something considering the Panthers averaged 37.1 points per game coming into the contest but scored a season-high 59.… Wingard finished with 18 points and five rebounds with McHenry adding 10 points and four boards. Cole Henry led Keystone with seven rebounds, but the Panthers were outrebounded 38-30 including 12-5 on the offensive glass … Dawson Camper had a game-high 11 rebounds for Union and had a double-double finishing with 10 points. Johnston and Roxbury each added eight rebounds … Union lost starter Bailey Crissman minutes into the game to an apparent lower-body injury (upper hip/thigh area it appeared). Crissman did not return and was dressed in street clothes in the second half.
KEYSTONE 59, UNION 56
Score by Quarters
Union 9 22 13 12 – 56
Keystone 11 17 13 18 – 59
UNION – 56
Bailey Crissman 1 0-0 2, Dawson Camper 4 2-5 10, Payton Johnston 6 2-2 14, Skyler Roxbury 2 0-0 5, Caden Rainey 5 3-4 14, Zander Laughlin 3 0-0 6, Hayden Smith 1 0-0 3, Joey Morrison 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 7-11 56.
KEYSTONE – 59
Bret Wingard 6 3-6 18, Tyler Albright 6 2-2 19, Cole Henry 4 1-2 9, Ian Keth 0 0-0 0, Zander McHenry 2 4-5 10, Haden Foster 0 0-0 0, Rayce Weaver 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 10-15 59.
Three-pointers: Union 3 (Rainey, Roxbury, Smith). Keystone 11 (Albright 5, Wingard 3, McHenry 2, Weaver 1).
