Both teams struggled to find their offensive stride in the opening eight minutes of Saturday afternoon's game, but with Keystone holding a 10-8 lead, the Giants outscored Cairn (1-15, 1-9 CSAC) 32-6 over a span of 10:54 to open up a 28-point advantage with 52 seconds remaining in the opening half before taking a 42-16 lead into the locker room at halftime after limiting the Highlanders to just eight field goals in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Dan Candemeres (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) paced a balanced offense for the hosts in the opening 20 minutes of play with eight points, Duncan Lunsford (Marietta, GA/Sprayberry) netted seven points, and Jesse Longmire (Harlem, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) added six points as Keystone opened up the 26-point halftime advantage. The Giants shot 45.5 percent from the field and made seven three pointers in the period.
Reuben Lacy led Cairn with six points and five rebounds while Darnell Clowney contributed four points for the Highlanders, who shot 32 percent from the floor in the first half without making a three-pointer or a free throw in the stanza.
Lunsford scored the first bucket of the second half, but Cairn was able to narrow their deficit to 50-34 with 13:45 left in regulation. Keystone pushed their advantage back to 21 points midway through period at 61-40, but the Highlanders used a 15-4 run over the next 3:34 to draw to within 10, 65-55, with 7:29 left on the clock. Candemeres and Lunsford answered with back-to-back threes for the Giants to start an 8-0 as the visitors were unable to cut their deficit to single digits with Keystone outscoring Cairn 23-5 the rest of the way.
Candemeres finished with a team-high 15 points for Keystone while Lunsford and Rashaud Kelley (Sharon, PA/Paul Laurence Dunbar) netted 14 points apiece, with Kelley's 14 points marking a career-high. Tyreek Peeples (Philadelphia, PA/Girard College) and Miles Dargan (Orlando, FL/Wekiva) also reached double-figures for the Giants with 10 points apiece.
Kelley tied for a game-high with eight rebounds while Lunsford added seven rebounds, four assists, and a team-leading three steals in the victory. Peeples led all players with five assists in the contest while Longmire added nine points for the Giants, who finished the afternoon shooting 42.6 percent from the field including 14 made three-pointers and a 16-21 (76.2 percent) effort from the free throw line.
Keystone, who held a 39-36 edge on the glass, also got six boards apiece from Peeples, Candemeres, and DaVaughn Roberts-Thomas (Port Arthur, TX/Silsbee). The Giants forced the Highlanders into more than twice as many turnovers as they committed themselves, holding a 12-25 advantage in the giveaway column.
Lacy scored a game-high 20 points to lead Cairn, while Omar Askia added 13 points and game-high four steals in the loss. Clowney chipped in with 12 point while J.D. Zamroz corralled a team-best eight rebounds for the Highlanders, who connected on 42 percent of their field goal attempts for the game while making just one three-point shot. The visitors shot 73.9 percent (17-23) from the free throw line, all of which came in the second half.
Keystone will play their final non-conference game of the season on Monday evening when they travel to Hamilton College for a contest that is scheduled to tipoff at 7:00 p.m. in Hamilton, New York.