Boys Basketball: Keystone downs Brookside, earns a share of the Lorain County League title with the Cardinals

LAGRANGE — For the second year in a row Keystone and Brookside will have to settle for being co-champions of the Lorain County League. Keystone claimed its share of the title Friday with a 67-62 win over the Cardinals. Liam Goran led the way for the Wildcats (17-5, 13-1 LCL) with 24 points, including two 3-pointers in the opening minutes as Keystone raced out to an 11-2 lead. "We knew we had to step up in this game," Goran said. "We've been in a lot of close games this season and it all led up to tonight." Although Brookside (15-4, 13-1 LCL) trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter, the Cardinals never stopped fighting. They cut the Wildcats lead to four, 62-58, when Danny Fries made a pair of free throws with 30.4 seconds remaining in the game. Brookside was never able to make it a one-possession game. "Give Keystone a lot of credit. They were obviously under a lot more pressure than we were, we already had a share of the title," Brookside coach Larry Babics said. "I'm sad that we didn't win, but I'm happy for Jeff (Keystone coach Jeff Holzhauer) and his kids because I know how hard they work. They earned this tonight, and they deserved to be champions as well. We've played them 11 times over the last five years and they're always good, competitive games." On some nights the Wildcats rely on Goran and sophomore Colt Cowling for almost all of their scoring, but against the Cardinals, Keystone had a four-pronged scoring attack with senior Emory Fedor and sophomore Bobby Gurich both posting career-highs with 13 and 11 points, respectively. "I was so nervous coming into today, but my teammates and the community supporting me meant so much," Fedor said. "Sometimes it's hard being the only senior, but my teammates have made it so easy on me." The Wildcats were not only able to score, they did an outstanding job of taking care of the basketball. Keystone only committed six turnovers and on defense held Brookside's leading scorer, junior Mason Waechter, to 10 points. Junior Alex Arra and sophomore Zeke Lind picked up the scoring slack for Brookside, each finishing with 20 points. "Credit to Larry and Brian (Cardinals assistant coach Brian Kelley), that's a tough team to shake. They play hard and we always get their best," Holzhauer said, after his team clinched its second consecutive co-championship and third LCL title in the past six years. "I'm really proud of our guys," Holzhauer said. "I think our team has changed a lot since the first time we played them. Bobby had a career night. He does so many good things for us but usually scoring isn't one of them, but he scored tonight. We showed more toughness as team tonight." Both teams did the little things that will be necessary to continue their success into the post season. Goran went 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. While on the opposite side, the Cardinals shot 93 percent (13 of 24) from the line as a team. Brookside also got eight points from junior Ethan Blythe. "We want this kind of competitor, especially late in the season," Babics said. "This game was better for both teams than going somewhere and winning by 30, that's not going to help you for the tournament." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com Keystone 67, Brookside 62 BROOKSIDE (62): Alex Arra 5-8-20, Ethan Blythe 3-0-8, Mason Waechter 4-2-10, Danny Fries 0-2–2, Colton Casey 1-0-2, Zeke Lind 8-1-20. Totals 21-13-62 KEYSTONE (67): Liam Goran 6-9-24, Ty Holzhauer 3-0-8, Brendan Hagerman 0-0-0, Emory Fedor 6-1-13, Bobby Gurich 5-1-11, Colt Cowling 4-2-11. Totals 24-13-67 Brookside 12 10 16 24 — 62 Keystone 18 15 12 22 — 67 Three-point goals: Brookside (Lind 3, Arra 2, Waechter 2), Keystone (Goran 3, Holzhauer 2, Cowling) Field goals: Brookside 21-50 (42 percent), Keystone 24-53 (45 percent). Free throws: Brookside 13-14 (93 percent), Keystone 13-18 (73 percent). Rebounds: Brookside 32, Keystone 26. Turnovers: Brookside 11, Keystone 6. Team Fouls: Brookside 16, Keystone 16. Fouled out: Colton, Hagerman. Junior varsity: Keystone, 44-43