Boys basketball: Keystone turns up the defense in the third quarter to pull away from Wellington

LAGRANGE — Keystone's defense smothered Wellington. The Dukes were unable to convert a field goal in the third quarter, and the Wildcats used the drought to push their lead to double figures on the way to a 51-39 Lorain County League win Tuesday night. The teams will stage a rematch at Wellington on Friday because Tuesday's game had been postponed due to the Browns playoff game. Which, in hindsight, most fans probably would have skipped to see these teams play instead. "We challenged them at halftime to win the first three minutes of the third quarter because a lot of times it decides the game," said Keystone assistant coach Chad Elliott, who led the team with head coach Jeff Holzhauer unavailable. "In a lot of cases the momentum swings, that first three minutes is critical. We want them to call timeouts and not us. We challenged them at halftime and they came out and did it." Wellington senior Sean Whitehouse needed just nine points to reach 1,000 for his career, and he did so by scoring the Dukes' first nine points. He clinched the milestone on the opening possession of the second quarter, coming up with a steal of an inbounds pass at half court and found himself all alone in the paint for an emphatic dunk. He led all scorers with 20 points, adding seven rebounds, two steals and a block. He now has 1,011 points for his career and is the seventh boys basketball player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for Wellington (14-7, 7-6 LCL). "It feels good, but I wish the outcome would have been different," Whitehouse said. "I wish we could have come out on top. To be honest, I wasn't even really focused on the thousand. I just wanted to benefit my team and help us win." Keystone (11-10, 8-5) got a balanced attack from senior Grant Hartley, junior Zach Shackelford and freshman Liam Goran, who combined for 40 points. Hartley and Shackelford led the way with 14 each after they had just nine points between them in the first half. Goran kept the team afloat in the first half with six points and finished with 12. "We just talked about how we needed to pick it up at defense," Shackelford said. "We came out of halftime and played stellar defense. We pushed the ball on offense, fast pace and a lot of layups. We were all kind of off because of Senior Night. We really wanted to get this one for the seniors, so everyone was trying really hard." Shackelford broke Keystone loose to start the third, connecting on the team's only 3-pointer on the opening possession. Hartley, Shackelford and Goran combined for all 12 of Keystone's points in the third quarter. Whitehouse was the only Dukes player to score for a 9:40 span beginning with 40 seconds left in the second quarter. He went 5-of-6 from the line for the Dukes' only points until Bryce Lehmkuhl ended the field goal drought with a putback 40 seconds into the fourth quarter. By then, however, Keystone held a 34-24 lead and promptly reeled off six unanswered points, keeping the Dukes at arm's length the rest of the way. "We'll regroup and re-game plan for Friday," Wellington coach Anthony Schmook said. "We'll figure this out together as a group and regroup for Friday." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Keystone 51, Wellington 39 WELLINGTON (39): Landon Wright 0-0-0, Sean Whitehouse 6-6-20, Adam Michalak 1-0-3, Landon Whitehouse 0-1-1, Deakan Wirth 2-2-6, Chase McKenzie 0-0-0, Alex Frenk 2-3-7, Bryce Lehmkuhl 1-0-2. Totals 12-12-39. KEYSTONE (51): Liam Goran 5-2-12, Grant Hartley 5-4-14, Logan Nagle 0-1-1, Zach Shackelford 6-1-14, Tucker Webb 1-0-2, Blake Moore 2-1-3, Emory Fedor 2-1-5, Vince Taylor 0-0-0, Zander Yoho 0-0-0, Karter Urig 0-0-0. Totals 20-10-51. Wellington 7 &emsp;&emsp;11 4 &emsp;&emsp; 16 — 39Keystone 13 7 &emsp;&emsp;12 19 — 51 Three-point goals: Wellington 3-13 (Sean Whitehouse 2, Michalak), Keystone 1-10 (Shackelford). Field goals: Wellington 12-34 (35 percent), Keystone 20-40 (50 percent). Free throws: Wellington 12-16 (75 percent), Keystone 10-13 (77 percent). Rebounds: Wellington 24 (Sean Whitehouse 7, Wirth 7), Keystone 14 (Goran 6). Total fouls: Wellington 19, Keystone 9. Turnovers: Wellington 19, Keystone 13. Junior varsity: Keystone, 57-21