The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Keyser puts kabosh to conference controversy
* Down 10 late in 3rd period, Golden Tornado go on 22-4 run
* Keyser eliminate Hamsphire, wins AMAC title
* BW begins, ends regular season with losses to Keyser

By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
NEW CREEK, W.Va., Feb. 24 -- The Hampshire boys basketball team might have had a legitimate complaint about finished in second place to Keyser in the Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference.

But with their comeback 82-73 win over No. 2 Bishop Walsh, the top-ranked Golden Tornado mathematically eliminated Hampshire from contention - and all but made irrelevant the game that was canceled due to inclement weather.

Keyser trailed 63-53 with one minute and 49 seconds left in the third quarter. It appeared as if the Spartans were on cruise control to cause chaos in the Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference standings.

Already with four AMAC losses, Bishop Walsh came into the game out of contention for the conference championship. The Spartans could, however, wreak havoc on the Golden Tornados' plans to wear the crown without dispute. A Keyser loss would put the Golden Tornado just one game ahead of Hampshire. And the second Keyser/Hampshire match-up was pushed back twice - once due to Hampshire's hosting a girls playoff game and, on Tuesday, due to snow. Were the game to be played and Hampshire win, it would create a tie atop the AMAC standings.

Keyser coach Gary Liston said Hampshire officials still wanted to play the second game this week. Liston said there was no way he was going to force his players to play former No. 1 Southern early this week, then former No. 1 Bishop Walsh on Thursday, host on Friday Washington - one of the top teams in West Virginia - and then play Hampshire on Saturday. That schedule would give the Golden Tornado just 72 hours to recover before hosting a first-round playoff game.

At the start of the game on Thursday, Bishop Walsh did everything it could to spoil any plans by Keyser to celebrate. After the home team grabbed leads of 6-2, 10-6 and 14-8, the Spartans went on a 13-0 run to pull ahead 21-14. Dylan D'Atri hit two free throws during that stretch, Quincy Redmon scored on a layup and Richie Mann, Devin Hawley and Pat Jones each hit 3-pointers over the two-minute span.

But Keyser signaled its intent to stick around. Dylan Evans scored with 1:19 left in the quarter and Peyton Hartman hit his second field goal of the game 62 seconds later. After one period, BW led just 21-18.

The two teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter. Keyser never got closer than the three-point difference it started with and, thanks to three straight 3-pointers by Jones, Hawley and Greg Hendershot, Bishop Walsh expanded its lead to seven points, 41-34, with 2:36 to go before halftime.

Mann closed out the quarter with five points, including another 3-pointer. Bishop Walsh took a 46-40 lead into intermission.

BW quickly added to its lead early in the third quarter. Redmon blocked a shot, stole the ball and passed off to Hawley for the easy bucket for a 48-42 Spartan lead. Jones added a field goal 46 seconds later for a 50-42 advantage less than two minutes into the period.

It was back-and-forth again over the next few minutes until Kammari Powell hit a 3-pointer for Bishop Walsh with slightly more than three minutes to play in the third period. A Keyser 3-pointer pulled the Golden Tornado within four points, 57-53, with 2:56 to go in the third.

Redmon hit two buckets and Mann scored again to give the Spartans their biggest lead, 63-53, with 1:49 left in the third. It was unknown, at the time, that Bishop Walsh would hit just four more field goals in the final 9:49.

Meanwhile, Keyser went on the offensive. Damon Thorne scored on a layup 17 seconds into the period. A minute later, Thorne struck again. After two free throws by Jones with 6:09 left, BW scored just once over the next four minutes. In the same span, the Golden Tornado scored 11 points.

A Hartman jumper pulled Keyser within 67-66 with 5:58 to go. A large, pro-Keyser home crowd bought into the momentum on that basket - and perhaps helped to create it. Twenty-seven seconds later, Washington took a pass from Dustin Fertig and drained a 3-pointer to give Keyser its first lead (69-67) since mdiway through the first period.

The Golden Tornado never looked back - and BW never got closer than four points the rest of the way. Thorne hit two of Keyser's next three buckets for a 75-67 advantage. With 1:40 left on the clock, Redmon's basket pulled the Spartans to within 77-73. Liston called a timeout to refocus his team.

Afterward, all BW could do was to foul the gold and black in an effort to slow down the clock. The strategy didn't work, as Keyser hit five of seven free throws in the final 72 seconds to seal the win.