Keyser, Jamestown boys hoops fend off Sharpsville

Jan. 13—SHARPSVILLE — Cameron Keyser is usually the biggest man on the court.

The Jamestown hoopster came across a couple formidable foes on Friday night. However, he still helped lead to the Muskies to a 61-45 victory over Sharpsville.

"I love it. I want to play college ball, and I have a feeling that a lot of what I'm gonna see — a lot of big guys," Keyser said. "I just love this type of game where we can get in there and just bang around."

Keyser finished with a double-double — 23 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. The forward scored his 1,304th career point, good enough for second all-time at Jamestown. He passed 2004 graduate Joe Herrmann's 1,289 points and only trails 1980 alum Mark Shannon at 1,351.

Jamestown's go-to player reached the mark while battling with Sharpsville forwards Braden Scarvel and Luke Staunch. Each provided a different test. Scarvel is built similarly to Keyser, while Staunch is 6-7 and long.

Despite the difficult matchups, Keyser helped pound the ball inside to get the Muskies' offense rolling in the third quarter.

Keyser's play in the paint helped open driving lanes and 3-point chances for his teammates.

Gage Planavsky scored 13 points with four rebounds and three assists. Carter Williams scored nine points off three 3-pointers with three boards.

"When we're doing well, we're not turning the ball over as much and we're making shots," Jamestown head coach Luke Widger said. "We made some shots. A pretty simple formula."

After leading 30-21 at halftime, the Muskies (8-4) came out swinging in the third quarter. They outscored Sharpsville 17-7 midway through the frame, but the Blue Devils ended the third on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 47-37.

The Jamestown defense buckled down, however. Over the final eight minutes, the Blue Devils were held to eight points.

Scarvel led the way for the Blue Devils (3-8) with a double-double of his own — 14 points and 11 rebounds. Liam Campbell added eight points with four rebounds, and guard Garen Levis added six points and a game-high five assists.

"We just weren't able to knock down shots when we got open looks on the block," Campbell said. "We were getting open 3s, too, but they weren't falling for us tonight.

"Gotta come back into practice and start making our shots and come into Tuesday at Mercer and play a little bit better."

The Muskies have yet to enter region play. They'll get their first taste when they travel to Farrell on Tuesday. The Steelers are 10-3 following a 82-61 victory over Mercer.

Jamestown will rely on one of the best scorers in school history, despite an off night by his standards. Sharpsville's defense held Keyser to 23 points. The Jamestown forward was coming off of games of 38 and 40 points.

Sharpsville tried to switch defense responsibilities when dealing with Keyser. Scarvel, Staunch, even Levis was given the chance to stop the big man.

"They got some big guys, and I'm not used to playing guys bigger than me — a little bit different experience," Keyser said. "Whenever I got a guys smaller on me, I'm just trying to work, do my job under the hoop."

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JAMESTOWN 14 16 17 14 61

SHARPSVILLE 11 12 14 8 45

JAMESTOWN — Hill 1-2-2-4, Planavsky 5-3-4-13, Ford 2-0-0-4, Ternent 2-2-2-7, Keyser 8-5-6-23, Williams 3-0-0-9, Popielarcheck 0-1-2-1. 3-pt. goals: Williams 3, Keyser 2, Ternent 1. Totals: 21-13-16-61.

SHARPSVILLE — Toth 1-0-0-3, Cadman 0-0-0-0, Levis 3-0-0-6, DeJulia 1-1-2-3, Distler 1-1-4-3, Scarvel 3-8-8-14, Byerly 0-0-0-0, O'Neil 1-0-0-2, Staunch 3-0-0-6, Campbell 2-3-4-8. 3-pt. goals: Toth 1, Campbell 1. Totals: 15-13-18-45.

JV: Sharpsville 40, Jamestown 32.