BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Host Keystone Heights High School outscored Union County 21-8 in the second and third quarters in defeating the Tigers 38-18 in a girls basketball game on Jan. 3.
Neither team shot well, but Union struggled mightily in the second and third quarters, making just two of 30-plus field-goal attempts.
It wasn’t until three minutes after tip-off when the first points were scored, courtesy of the Tigers’ Brooke Hunt.
The Indians committed seven turnovers and missed their first seven field-goal attempts before Riley Shuford knocked down a three-pointer with 2:21 left in the first quarter. It was the first of two long-range shots by Keystone in the quarter, with McKinlee Kirkland dropping a shot in from beyond the arc with 38 seconds remaining to put the Indians ahead 6-2.
Union’s Heaven Scott rebounded her own miss and put it back before the buzzer, making it a 6-4 game entering the second quarter.
Scott made a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead, but it would be Union’s only field goal of the quarter. Shuford sank a three-point shot to give the Indians the lead for good and followed that with a basket off her own steal for an 11-7 Keystone lead.
Iamorieah Williams made a free throw for the Tigers before Shuford turned a steal into another basket for Keystone, making it a five-point game.
Shuford finished the game with five steals.
The Tigers got a free throw from Scott to make the score 13-9 with 49 seconds remaining until halftime. Union threatened to narrow the margin even more on a fastbreak opportunity, but Shuford blocked the shot attempt from behind — her second such block in the quarter.
Keystone’s Rigby Morford went to the foul line with 13 seconds on the clock. She made one of her two free-throw attempts, with the Indians rebounding the miss. Keystone was unsuccessful on one field-goal attempt, but a Kadence Massey
rebound led to a basket by Kirkland before the buzzer, giving the Indians a 16-9 halftime lead.
The Indians opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run, getting all eight points from Shuford and Daisy Hubbard.
Shuford finished with a game-high 14 points, while Hubbard was the game’s second-highest scorer with nine points.
As the Tigers continued to struggle from the field, Keystone’s Massey added to her rebound totals, finishing the game with 16.
Keystone held a 27-12 lead before Union scored the first six points of the fourth quarter. Faith Sirmones scored the Tigers’ first two points, followed by a Scott basket that was set up by a Williams steal. Another Keystone turnover led to a basket by Gabrielle Moore, making the score 27-18.
Moore’s basket accounted for the Tigers’ final points.
Brynn Creekmore ended the Indians’ brief drought when she sank a three-pointer. Hubbard then scored off a Shuford assist, followed by Morford’s basket off a rebound putback. Hubbard scored again — this time off a Massey assist — while a basket by Massey off a Morford assist ended the scoring.
Kirkland finished with five points for the Indians, who also got three points each from Creekmore and Morford. Massey added two points.
Scott led Union with eight points. Sirmones was the Tigers’ second-leading scorer with four points.
The Indians, who earned their second win, played North Marion this past Tuesday and will travel to play Crescent City on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. Keystone returns home to play Palatka on Friday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m.
Union, which also has two wins, played at Branford the night after playing Keystone, losing 51-15. The Tigers played Cedar Key this past Tuesday and will travel to Gainesville to play The Rock on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 5:30 p.m. Union travels to play Santa Fe on Friday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. and returns home to play Branford on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m.
Keystone and Union play each other again on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 6:30 p.m. in Lake Butler.
