High school basketball: Delaney Peters scores 32 as Keystone girls beat Black River

SULLIVAN TWP. — Keystone's No. 2, Delaney Peters, never stopped shooting. Black River's No. 2, Riley Kubitz, had to when she picked up her fifth foul near the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter. That was the difference Wednesday, as Peters' 32 points helped the Wildcats overcome a 15-point second-quarter deficit and beat the Pirates 56-50 in Lorain County League action. Peters, who finished 12-for-27 from the field overall, 3-for-14 on 3-pointers and 5-for-10 at the line, missed her first 10 shots from long range but rebounded to go 3-for-4 when it mattered most. The 5-foot-7 sophomore, who also grabbed eight rebounds, had 24 points after halftime, including 14 in a fourth quarter that Keystone (3-4) won 20-14. "Shooters shoot," she said. Kubitz, a freshman, led Black River (4-3) with 23 points, including 15 as the Pirates built a 26-11 lead with 3½ minutes to go in the second quarter. She was in foul trouble for much of the second half and finished 6-for-15 from the field overall, 1-for-3 from behind the arc and 10-for-10 at the line. The other six players who saw action for Black River combined to go 9-for-41 from the floor, including 2-for-20 on 3-pointers, and 7-for-16 at the line. "No. 2 is their best player," Peters said of Kubitz. "Once she was out, there definitely was a difference." Kaylynn Maurer had 12 points for Black River, while Lilly Stief added seven — no one else had more than three — and Abbie Graves grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Peters got plenty of help from her teammates, as 5-10 freshman center Jessica Forthofer, who eventually fouled out, had 10 points and an incredible 20 rebounds while playing about 22 minutes. Backup center Kodi Bartlome, who sometimes was on the floor with Forthofer and is her team's lone senior, had 15 rebounds as Keystone owned the glass, 58-33. All that helped the Wildcats, who started two freshmen, a sophomore and two juniors, record a big road victory on a night when they looked dead in the water midway through the second quarter. "This is huge," Keystone coach Rocky Houston said. "Getting a game like this is massive for them. This will change their mindset. Now they know they can stay in games as long as they compete." Peters' first made 3-pointer of the night gave Keystone its initial lead, 33-31, with 2:15 to play in the third quarter. The Wildcats went up 43-38 on a Peters drive with 6:46 to play, but Black River tied the game at 45 on a Stief 3-pointer. Peters, who Houston said went 3-for-23 from deep in a game last season, then hit a 3-pointer and scored on a drive as Keystone took the lead for good. "No defense," Black River coach Greg Vogelsong said after watching his team give up 37 points in the second half. "They let the Peters girl do anything she wanted. They kept letting her shoot the ball. "The next two days we're going to work on our rotations on the bottom, bumping cutters and pressuring the ball. We're not running our (extended) 1-2-2 as it is set up because our guards don't want to come out and pressure the ball." The game began well for the Pirates, who started three freshmen. Keystone committed 15 turnovers in the first quarter as Black River took a 16-7 lead, but after the Pirates went up 15 in the second quarter, Keystone cut down drastically on its mistakes and the game tightened up. The Wildcats, who had just 14 turnovers over the final three quarters, closed the first half on an 8-0 run and scored the first four points of the second half to make it a three-point game. Keystone, which played mostly man-to-man but experimented with a triangle-and-two when it couldn't contain Kubitz in the first half, never trailed in the fourth quarter, which began with the teams tied at 36. "She's a really good player," Houston said of Kubitz. "As soon as she understands being under control, when to pull up, when to pass, she's going to be fantastic. She's going to be one of the best players in our conference for the next 3½ years." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter. Keystone 56, Black River 50 KEYSTONE (56): Sidney Iler 0-2-2, Delaney Peters 12-5-32, Jessica Forthofer 3-4-10, Kennedy Kerr 1-0-3, Helayna Houston 2-1-5, Kodi Bartlome 2-0-4, Hali Woods 0-0-0, Kortney Bartlome 0-0-0. Totals 20-12-56. BLACK RIVER (50): Lilly Stief 2-2-7, Kaylynn Maurer 4-3-12, Zoey Burgard 1-1-3, Riley Kubitz 6-10-23, Ashley Kalman 0-1-1, Teddi Vonderau 1-0-2, Abbie Graves 1-0-2. Totals 15-17-50. Keystone&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;20&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;56Black River&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;50 Three-point goals: Peters 3, Kerr, Kubitz, Maurer, Stief. Field goals: Keystone 20-61 (32.8 percent), Black River 15-56 (26.8 percent). Free throws: Keystone 12-22 (54.5 percent), Black River 17-26 (65.4 percent). Rebounds: Keystone 58 (Forthofer 20), Black River 33 (Graves 13). Assists: Keystone 7 (Kerr 3), Black River 6 (Kalman 3). Turnovers: Keystone 29, Black River 21. Keystone 12-22, Black River 17-26