SENECA, Pa. – Behind 18 points and 11 rebounds from Taylor Geer and strong fourth-quarter free-throw shooting, visiting Keystone rebounded from a tough loss to A-C Valley Friday night to top Cranberry, 47-41, Tuesday.
(Cover photo of Taylor Geer. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
The victory avenges a loss to the Berries at Cranberry, 41-35, Dec. 29 in the Don Hall Memorial Christmas Tournament for Keystone, which was in desperate need of a victory after starting the season 3-7 with tough games against North Clarion (Friday at home) and Punxsutawney (Monday at home) coming up.
Keystone (4-7), which shot 12 of 15 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, was able to expand a 41-40 lead with 3 1/2 minutes to play into the six-point victory thanks to that late free-throw shooting. The Lady Panthers did that despite Geer fouling out with around four minutes to play and McKenzie Hovis fouling out with around three minutes left.
Mackenzie Byerley played a key role in the fourth quarter going 5 of 5 from the foul line in the quarter while scoring five of her 14 points in the frame. Alyssa Dunlap netted all four of her points in the final eight minutes as well and added four blocked shots.
Alyssa Beichner, who played the final few minutes with four fouls, added seven points and nine rebounds for Keystone, who also got four points and eight boards from McKenzie Hovis.
Cranberry (11-2), which saw its eight-game win streak come to an end, was led by 23 points from Malliah Schreck and nine from Emily Merryman.
The teams were tied at 16 at halftime before Keystone took a 33-24 lead after three quarters thanks to 10 third-quarter points from Geer.
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