ORRVILLE — Unable to match the energy of R.C. Hatch and unable to get to the free throw line, No. 3 Keith got hammered at home 57-36 by the Bobcats Tuesday.

The Bears managed just twelve points in the second half of a game that was never in doubt after a 15-2 R.C. Hatch run helped put it out of reach.

“We didn’t do a lot right tonight,” Keith head coach Tommy Tisdale said. “We didn’t do a lot of anything. I don’t know how to coach effort. I told the guys that you never get a lack of effort from a Keith basketball team, and tonight we had no effort.”

The Bears were without several key players, including Jaequan Simmons and Dalven Johnson, who were both battling a stomach bug. Two other Bears were also under the weather, but played through it and Rayshaud Thomas left the game in the first half with a bruised thigh. Even with all that, Tisdale wasn’t making excuses for his team’s performance.

“All of those things are excuses,” Tisdale said. “When somebody is not there, it is an opportunity to step up.”

In what he called one of, if not the best, officiated game in his time coaching the Bears, he blamed his team’s lack of aggressiveness. Keith shot only five free throws the entire game.

R.C. Hatch took control in the second quarter and never relinquished the lead. Darion Lewis knocked in a three with 15 seconds left in the first half to make the Bobcats lead 30-24 at the break.

The teams started the third quarter by exchanging baskets, but R.C. hatch took command. Jeremy Mims scored eight of his game-high 21 points in a matter of minutes during R.C. Hatch’s 15-2 run to extend the lead. Jalen Rhone may have hit the dagger though, as he banked in a three as the third quarter ended to give R.C. Hatch a commanding 45-30 lead.

The lead just kept growing in the fourth quarter. Keith (7-5), a team that doesn’t lose regularly at home, trailed by 21 most of the final period.

“Keith has always been one of our big rivals and in a rivalry game you throw the records away,” R.C. Hatch coach Homer Davis said. “Keith came down and beat us at home by seven and we come down here and beat them by [21]. Rivalry games happen that way.”

Davis is hoping this is the kind of win that can turn around the Bobcats (3-6) slow start to the season.

“I think they are coming together now as a team and it is the right time,” Davis said.

John Pettway scored 19 points for the Bears and Dontavius Thomas had six points.

The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for Keith. The Bears face No. 1 ranked Sunshine in Orrville Thursday night.

 

Keith 40, R.C. Hatch 28 (Girls)

It’s not every night that a team as experienced as Keith can learn a valuable lesson in a twelve point win, but Lady Bears coach Cecil Williams is hoping that’s the case after Tuesday’s performance against R.C. Hatch

Keith (8-3) won 40-28 but it was probably a lot closer than it should have been. The Lady Bears jumped put to a 16 point lead in the third quarter before going through a stretch where the next ten possessions resulted in either a missed layup or a turnover.

The mistakes, coupled with a slow start to the game, allowed the Bobcats to stick around and make it interesting in the last few minutes. R.C. Hatch cut the Keith lead to eight in the final two minutes and had the ball. Harriet Winchester stole possession back for the Bears and hit Shatavia Moore for a layup, giving Keith (8-3) a little bit more breathing room.

“I hope they [learned something],” Williams said. “We made that same mistake against Southside. We started off the same way.”

The Lady Bears led 18-11 at the half, thanks to a buzzer beater by Dasheena Thomas and took a 25-11 lead after a Winchester three-pointer with 6:47 left in the third quarter, but couldn’t put it away. The Bobcats turned the ball over throughout the third quarter, and Keith did the same in a sloppy period for both teams.

“We missed a lot of layups, free throws, just to basic stuff that we need to go back over and work on,” Williams said. “That slow start is going to hurt us down the road.”

R.C. Hatch is still trying to find some chemistry after a starter went down a few games ago, but head coach Willie Morgan was satisfied with his team’s effort.

“With our team, we play with a lot of heart and a lot of passion,” Morgan said. “We have that not going away attitude. We are going to play until the buzzer goes off.”