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Beavers breeze by Blue Bombers

Keene’s Damon Brown leaps to secure a rebound between Lake Placid’s Jesse Izzo, left, and Jacob Coursen during Thursday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

KEENE VALLEY — An experienced, well-rounded and quick Keene boys basketball team proved to be way too much for Lake Placid to handle.

With three players hitting in double figures and two more dropping in nine points, Keene rolled to a 64-21 victory over Lake Placid in Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference play Thursday at the Beaver Dome.

Antonio Finsterer dumped in a game-high 15 points, Damon Brown added 14 and Josh Baldwin chipped in 11 points in a matchup that saw the Beavers race out to a 27-0 lead before the Blue Bombers managed to score their first points midway through the second quarter.

Keene led 37-8 at halftime and limited Lake Placid to just 13 more points after intermission while improving to 3-0. The Blue Bombers dropped to 0-2 on the season with the setback.

“It all starts with our defense,” Keene coach Chad Lopez said. “We’ve always been a defensive-minded ball club. Our defense fuels our offense. We have a senior-heavy class, we’ve got six seniors, they’ve all bought in, and the sky’s the limit.

Lake Placid’s Sean Ransom dives to the floor while chasing a loose ball with Keene’s Ryo Kobayashi during the closing minutes of Thursday’s matchup at the Beaver Dome in Keene Valley. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“I like the fact that our guys share the basketball and play as a team,” Lopez added. “The scoring has been kind of divided up evenly. Any one night, one of those guys can have a breakout game. We’ve had three or four guys in double digits every game. It’s fun to watch.”

Keene owned a 21-0 edge after one quarter and then opened up its 27-point edge before Lake Placid finally got on the board with 5:24 left in the half when freshman Matt Brandes drained a three-pointer from the baseline. The Blue Bombers got two more field goals in the second period — a three-pointer from Jesse Izzo with 2:47 remaining and shot from in close by Jarell Paul — before Azriel Finsterer banked in an offensive rebound off the glass to round out the first-half scoring.

Azriel Finsterer and Miles Warner both added nine points in the Beavers’ balanced offensive performance.

Izzo and Brandes both finished with five points to lead Lake Placid.

“Keene came out on fire and ready to go,” Blue Bombers head coach Brian VanNostrand said. “I told the guys in the locker room at halftime we got punched in the mouth early. We staggered back a little but Keene came out ready for this game right from the start. Credit to them for their effort today.

“We have to be ready right from the start intensity wise,” VanNostrand continued. “It’s been tough not getting our guys until late after the incredible run by our soccer team, our cross country team. We starting to put things together, we just have to convert it to game situations. It didn’t matter what we did. Keene’s guys were hitting from the inside, hitting from the outside. Even though we were working hard, we couldn’t do much. Keene is a very good team.”

Keene’s next scheduled game is on Wednesday at home against Westport, but Lopez said that matchup may be moved to another date. The Beavers are also slated to play Seton Catholic on the road Dec. 15.

Lake Placid will be in action again tonight, hosting Elizabethtown-Lewis starting at 6:15 p.m.

Keene 62, Lake Placid 21

Beavers 21 16 17 10 — 64

Blue Bombers 0 8 4 9 — 21

Keene (64)

Buysse 0-0-0, Brown 6-0-14, Shambo 0-0-0, Kobayashi 0-0-0, An. Finsterer 7-0-15, Shervon 0-0-0, Warner 3-2-9, Az. Finsterer 2-3-9, Baldwin 5-1-11, Isham 3-0-6, Belsano 0-0-0. Totals: 26-6-64.

Lake Placid (21)

Paul 1-0-2, White 0-0-0, Craig 0-0-0, Coursen 1-0-2, Brown 1-0-2, Benavides 1-1-0, Izzo 2-0-5, Briggs 0-0-0, Ransom 0-0-0, M. Brandes 2-0-5, C. Brandes 0-0-0, Perry 0-0-0. Totals: 9-1-21.

Three-point goals: LP (2), M. Brandes, Izzo; K (6), Brown 2, An. Finsterer, Warner, Az. Finsterer 2.

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