By CHRIS AUGERHOLE
PARK HILL – The Keys Cougars and Lady Cougars dominated the court Friday night against the Warner Eagles, with both teams winning by at least 30 points.
The Lady Cougars wasted no time jumping out to a six-point lead with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jami Guthrie and Micah Henry. The duo would outscore the Lady Eagles 25-15 in the half with the only other points coming from a Lackelli Kennedy free throw and a Sydney Kimble basket.
Keys dominated on the offensive glass, collecting four rebounds on one trip alone, that led to many second chance points. Henry hit four of her five 3-pointers in the first half, with the fourth giving Keys their biggest lead of the half at 26-8.
Warner made a run in the final 3 1/2 minutes to cut the lead to nine before Guthrie hit a shot with 15 seconds left before halftime.
The third quarter is when the Lady Cougars really poured it on Warner, holding the Lady Eagles scoreless in the quarter. Guthrie led the way with three steals in the quarter, all of which led to layups. The Keys zone defense swarmed the Lady Eagles, who never figured out how to break the press consistently, nor connect on shots when they did. Keys led 46-16 at the end of three quarters.
In the fourth, the teams traded baskets most of the quarter, with the final buzzer mercifully sounding to give Keys a 56-24 win. Henry led the team in scoring with 21 followed by Guthrie’s 17.
Keys 73, Warner 43 (boys)
The second game wasn’t any better for the Warner faithful.
Warner took their first and final lead on a Kory Keith 3-pointer before Keys quickly regained it on a 3-point play from Ross Robbins.
After Keys’ Christian Daugherty scored inside, the Eagles answered with another 3, this time by Clint Jackson. The 3 was the last points the Eagles would score in the quarter, with the drought spilling three minutes into the second.
Keys jumped on the opportunity and scored 14 unanswered points to build their lead to 21-6. During the streak Dillin Springwater hit back-to-back 3s from the right corner.
The Eagles defense struggled to stay in front of the speedy Marcus Scavone, who repeatedly drove down the lane for layups. With Keys leading 30-10, the Eagles pulled as close as they would come in the game when Jackson hit another 3 followed by a jump shot to cut the lead to 30-15. At the end of the half the Cougars led 33-19.
In the third, the Cougars quickly jumped on the Eagles again as Robbins hit a 3 followed by another basket and two more from Derek Keys.
Kyle Nolan led the offense most of the third quarter with fantastic back-door passes that led to easy buckets for teammates. By the time the third quarter ran out the Cougars led 54-24.
Much like the girls’ game, the teams traded baskets in the fourth with Keys prevailing 73-43.
Three Cougars ended the night in double figures, with Scavone, Robbins and Taylor Swanson all scoring 10 points. All in all 12 Cougars names made the score book as the Cougars won their seventh game in a row to improve to 10-7 this season.
Next up for Keys will be a home date with Hilldale on Monday night as part of the games missed during the recent winter storm.
The teams will then host Sallisaw Central Friday night as a precursor for the following Monday as part of district playoffs.
