BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Keystone Heights High School struggled to score and committed 29 turnovers in a 45-21 loss to visiting Stanton Prep in a girls basketball game on Jan. 5.
It was the third straight loss for the Indians (6-6) and their sixth loss in seven games.
Keystone’s Alexandra Papaiannou scored the game’s first points with a basket off a Kadence Massey assist. The Indians turned the ball over on five straight possessions and trailed 6-2 before Daisy Hubbard scored underneath the basket off a Rigby Morford assist. A Hubbard basket off a Massey assist before the buzzer tied the game at 6-6 going into the second quarter.
Morford scored off a Hubbard assist to even the score at 8-8, but the Blue Devils (7-7) scored the remaining eight points in the half, leaving the Indians trailing 16-8 at the break.
Stanton opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run, but the Indians then scored three straight. Morford scored off an offensive rebound, while a three-pointer by Raven Bastin made it an eight-point game at 25-17.
The Indians missed five straight field-goal attempts after Bastin’s basket and trailed by 10 entering the fourth quarter.
Keystone’s struggles from the field continued as Stanton expanded its lead to 19. The Indians didn’t score in the final quarter until three minutes had gone by, getting a basket from Hubbard, which left Keystone trailing 36-19.
Hubbard finished with a team-high six points. Bastin had five, while Keystone also got four each from Massey and Morford and two from Papaiannou.
Massey and Morford each grabbed six defensive rebounds in the second half.
Prior to the holiday break, Keystone snapped a three-game losing steak with a 37-23 win over Union County on Dec. 22 in a tournament at Clay High School. Massey and Morford each had a double-double, with Massey scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds and Morford getting 10 points and 11 rebounds. Massey also had six assists and four steals.
The Indians got six points from BrookeLynn Nunez, five from Grace Keaton, four from Papaiannou and two from Bastin.
Keaton also had seven rebounds, while Papaiannou had five rebounds and three steals.
Keystone’s second game in the Clay tournament was a 38-25 loss to the host Blue Devils on Dec. 23.
The Indians’ first game of 2026 was a 53-20 loss to host Chiefland on Jan. 2.
Keystone hosts Crescent City on Tuesday Jan. 6, at 4:30 p.m. and will host Baldwin on Friday, Jan. 9, at 6 p.m. The Indians then travel to Jacksonville to play Duval Charter on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 6 p.m.
