ORRVILLE — “That was Keith Bear basketball,” said Keith head coach Tommy Tisdale.

What Keith basketball: defense

The Bears put the clamps down on St. Jude Educational Institute and won 53-41 in front of a crowd so large, people were being held out of the gym because of fire codes.

The game started off being tightly contested and with a buzzing crowd, Keith pulled out to an 11-10 lead at the end of

the first quarter.

In the second the Bears started to put the clamps down.

Keith caused six turnovers in the second quarter and got some easy baskets for a 26-15 lead going into the half.

In the second half, St. Jude came out and found a way to break a little of the pressure that was being put on by Keith.

“St. Jude came out with a good game plan that,” said Tisdale. “And our guys came out a little bit flat for a portion.”

Keith didn’t stay flat for long and took a 34-23 lead going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, St. Jude began to make things interesting.

A 3-pointer by Carlton Perkins brought St. Jude to within five points with a little more than five minutes to play.

However, the Bears proved too much and behind seven fourth-quarter points from Ronnie Rosemond Jr.

Rosemond would finish with 15 to lead the Bears in scoring.

“I’ll take a win like that any day of the week over a loss,” Tisdale said.

Now with the win the Bears will look ahead to a big match-up against R.C. Hatch for the Class 2A, Area 6 title.

Keith took down Hatch in 56-52 in a thriller two weeks ago.

“This will be a rematch of last year’s Area 6 game and Hatch won,” said Tisdale.