KEYSER, W.Va. — Frankfort hung around for most of the first quarter, but No. 2 Keyser’s experience took over, leading the Golden Tornado (11-2) to a 70-20 rout on Thursday.
“Most people would tell you it’s the same, and for us it’s the same,” Keyser head coach Josh Blowe said of not overlooking opponents. “Some people might not mean it, but I 100% mean it, we don’t overlook anybody. Everybody gets a scouting report, everyone knows exactly what we’re gonna do. It’s the same thing whether you’re playing the number one team in the state or number 120.”
The Falcons (7-7) opened with a 4-2 lead off layups by Ava Lupettie, who led Frankfort with 11 points, a steal and a block, and Angel Arnold.
“We just played a better team,” Frankfort head coach Steve Willison said. “I think in a couple years, we’re gonna be at this level because I’ve got all freshmen and sophomores. We’re a JV team playing varsity. If we were playing JV teams, we’d be blowing teams out. But we’re playing varsity, it’s a learning experience.”
Erica Metcalf scored a layup with 3:37 left in the first quarter to put Frankfort ahead 6-5.
Keyser took the lead for good with 2:58 remaining on a Rooney Urice layup.
Metcalf assisted Lupettie on a triple to get the Falcons to within 10-9 with 1:25 left in the quarter.
“We stuck to our game plan, what we wanted to do,” Willison said. “After the second quarter, we just fell apart. That’s what happens when you play better teams.”
The Tornado ended the quarter with seven unanswered points and led 17-9.
From 1:25 in the first quarter until 3:20 in the second, Keyser scored 18 unanswered.
Frankfort didn’t score for the final 1:46 of the first half as the Tornado took a 38-14 halftime lead.
“Our pressure defense, we ramped it up,” Blowe said. “Our ball movement, that’s when we started to hit 3s and layups. The ball movement was just outstanding. We couldn’t be more pleased with how we moved that basketball around the perimeter, inside out, high low. The ball movement was next level tonight.”
Keyser shot 15 of 31 (48%) from the field in the half and 4 of 9 (44%) from beyond the arc.
The Falcons went 6 of 12 (50%) from the field and committed 14 turnovers.
The Tornado scored half of its points in the first half off of takeaways with 19 points.
Keyser led 59-19 heading to the fourth, then outscored Frankfort 11-1 the rest of the way.
“The most important thing for me was we had 19 assists on 24 or 25 made baskets,” Blowe said. “That is outstanding, and we shoot 9 of 15 from the 3-point line, that’s next level good, that’s almost elite.”
From the 10-9 mark in the first quarter on, the Tornado outscored the Falcons 60-11.
Willison’s squad only has one junior and no seniors on the roster, but it has surpassed its win total from the last two seasons.
“We’re going to finish the season with a winning record,” Willison said. “We are, with the teams we’re playing. Tonight, Keyser’s beating teams like this, hey, we’re one of them, that’s just what it is. Even the good teams in the area they’ve beaten. I guess when they play Southern, we’ll find out who the best team is.”
Keyser had three players score in double figures, led by Bibs Felton’s game-high 16.
Felton added eight steals and four assists.
Austyn Healy scored 15 points with four assists and two steals while Kiya Kesner finished with 12 points, three assists and a steal.
Keyser defeated Petersburg 41-24 in the junior varsity game.
Zoey Warnick led the Tornado with 15 points while Sophie Lambka scored 14.
Ryleigh Hall paced the Vikings with 11 points.
Both teams are scheduled to play on Tuesday, weather permitting.
Keyser hosts No. 3 Hampshire (11-3) at 7:30 p.m. while Frankfort heads to Moorefield (3-8) at 7 p.m.
“They’re just confident, they’re winning a lot of games right now,” Blowe said of the Trojans. “I know Della (Knight), she’s tough, she’s averaging about 17 points a game. They got some young girls who are really stepping up and playing some great basketball.”