Boys’ Basketball: Nativity survives Marian’s late surge
Nativity's Trey Keating shooting a free throw during a Schuylkill League Division II boys' basketball game against Marian at Nativity (Photo by Eli Doyle).
POTTSVILLE — Trey Keating did exactly what he needed to do.
Keating, a junior, scored a game-high 35 points as Nativity overcame a late offensive flurry to defeat Marian 76-68 in a Schuylkill League Division II boys’ basketball game Monday atop Lawton’s Hill.
The junior went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and totaled 12 of his 35 in the final frame. He shot a total of 11-for-12 from the stripe.
“(Marian) tried to run a 1-4 set, and they didn’t take any 2’s,” Hilltoppers coach Mike Walborn said. “Maybe they had one or two layups. They were all 3’s. And if a team gets hot, there is not a whole lot you can do about it. You just try to hang on and attack on our end, which we did. Trey played really well, I think he had 35 or something. He played very well, and they played well.”
Nativity (2-1, 2-0) took a commanding lead early. The Hilltoppers led 48-23 going to the half and had the Colts (1-2, 1-1) searching for answers.
The Hilltoppers were clicking and finding all the right passes early. Keating hit two 3-pointers and Sam Walborn added another in the second quarter. Layne Pasker found Nick Clarke in the lane for an easy layup, and later Noah Dolbin dished a baseline pass to a wide open Pasker for two more as Nativity outscored Marian 27-10 in the second.
Following halftime, the Colts seemingly found their stroke.
Justin De La Cruz and Jacob De La Cruz each hit two 3’s and Bryan Ferreira added a fifth as Marian was off and running offensively in the second half. The Colts seemingly stunned the Hilltoppers and outscored them 21-12 in the third quarter after trailing by 20-plus.
With Nativity’s lead cut to 60-44 to start the fourth quarter, the Colts weren’t letting up or slowing down. Ferreira and Jacob De La Cruz both knocked down a trio of 3’s in the final frame and cut the Hilltoppers lead to 67-63 at one point, but time and free throws became imperative.
Marian collectively shot 2-for-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, while Nativity went 8-for-13 and watched time ticked away. The Hilltoppers escaped a potential late game comeback by the Colts and defeated Marian.
Dolbin chipped in 14 points and Paskar added 12 for Nativity.
For the Colts, Jacob De La Cruz scored a team-high 19 points, Ferreira tallied 12, Justin De La Cruz logged 11 and Rocco Griguoli finished with 10.
“We just have to communicate,” Coach Walborn said. “Sammy, Trey and Noah are all do-ers, and they don’t always communicate. We have to work on communication and boxing out.
“We thought we were just going to out-jump (Marian), which we didn’t. We gave up some offensive boards we shouldn’t have, but that is what we’re going to work on. And just try to dial everything in a little bit.”
