HS Boys’ Basketball: Keating powers Nativity to fifth win in a row

The Nativity boys' basketball team huddles before a Schuylkill League Division II game at Tri-Valley (Photo by Eli Doyle).

POTTSVILLE — It was another big night for Trey Keating and the Nativity boys’ basketball team.

Keating, a junior, led all scorers with a game-high 33 points as Nativity rolled past Williams Valley 74-42 in a Schuylkill League Division II game Tuesday atop Lawton’s Hill.

“It goes without saying,” Nativity coach Mike Walborn said about Keating’s scoring. “There’s no words to adequately explain it. In the last four games he became more of a complete player for us.

“Which I think has also helped him shoot the ball. We proved we could win without him having to score 30 (points). It got Noah’s confidence up, it got Sammy’s (Walborn) confidence up, (Jake) Bowman’s, Layne’s (Pasker), everybody’s. And now, like I told (T-102) before the game, who do you cover?”

Nativity (11-7, 11-1 D-II) didn’t want to let anybody cover them as the Hilltoppers jumped ahead 19-14 at the end of the first quarter and displayed the ability to shoot the 3-pointer early. Jake Bowman connected for two 3’s in the first quarter and Sammy Walborn and Keating each added one.

“Offensively we played much better,” Mike Walborn said. “It was tough, we don’t see a lot of zone (defense). If we do it’s normally a box-and-one or a junk defense, but the first half was pretty much all zone. So it was good for us to have to work against it and Trey got in a rhythm with some 3’s, which was nice.”

In the second quarter, Keating came alive from beyond the arc. The junior knocked down six 3’s and totaled 24 of his game-high 33 points in frame. Keating totaled seven 3’s in the game that pushed his career mark above 200 total.

“It was one of those games it worked for him,” Mike Walborn said. “He didn’t force it, it came naturally. You know, you can’t be happier about that.”

The Hilltoppers outscored the Vikings 27-10 in the second quarter and led 46-24 at halftime.

And there was no letting up in the second half for Nativity.

The Hilltoppers tacked on 19 points in the third quarter with Noah Dolbin leading the way offensively. Dolbin, a senior, collected nine of his 10 points in the frame.

Nativity led 65-35 as the fourth quarter began and the benches began to empty for each squad. The Hilltoppers put away the game after outscoring Williams Valley (7-10-1, 5-6) in the fourth quarter 9-7 to and collect a 74-42 win at home. The victory marked Nativity’s fifth consecutive win.

For the Vikings, Gabe Rodriguez, a freshman, scored a team-high 10 points.

Nativity can clinch the Division II championship with a win in one-of-two remaining league game. The Hilltoppers travel to Shenandoah Valley on Friday night.

“It’s one game at a time,” Mike Walborn said. “Our goals are on the board in the other room and our first goal was to qualify for districts, then the next goal is to win the division. Then win leagues and win districts, then get to states and hopefully to Hershey.”

WILLIAMS VALLEY (42) — Shomper 2 1-2 5, Achenbach 2 0-0 4, Kandybowski 3 1-2 6, Crisswell 2 1-2 5, Thompson 0 2-2 2, Kryzanowski 2 0-0 4, B. Zilinski 1 0-0 2, Trawitz 0 2-2 2, Rodriguez 4 1-3 10, Hoffman 1 0-0 2, K. Zilinski 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 8-13 42.

NATIVITY (74) — Kreitzer 1 0-0 2, Bowman 3 0-0 8, Walborn 3 0-0 8, Dolbin 3 4-6 10, Grabowski 0 0-0 0, Lutzkanin 2 0-0 4, Kramer 0 1-2 1, Pasker 1 6-6 8, Clarke 0 0-0 0, Keating 12 2-2 33. Totals 25 13-16 74.

WV (7-10-1, 5-6)   14 … 10 … 11 … 7 — 42

Nat (11-7, 11-1)  19 … 27 … 18 … 9 — 74

3-point FGs: Kandybowski, Rodriguez, Bowman 2, Walborn 2, Keating 7