Coupeville Sports

Coupeville grad Kailey Kellner swished a pair of three-balls Wednesday in a college basketball game. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Shooters gotta shoot, but rebounders gotta rebound, too.

Coupeville grad Kailey Kellner did her part Wednesday, dropping in a pair of long three-balls, but her D’Youville College women’s basketball teammates couldn’t keep their rivals off the boards at the end and it killed them.

Penn State-Behrend only held a 40-37 rebound advantage at game’s end in Erie, Pennsylvania, but grabbed boards when it mattered most in the final three minutes.

That allowed the host Lions to keep returning to the foul line, and Penn State closed the game on an 8-0 surge, winning a key league game 66-61.

The loss drops D’Youville to 5-9 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play, 8-13 overall.

With just four games left in the regular season, the Spartans are still scrapping for a playoff berth, but watching their postseason ticket slip further away.

D’Youville sits in 8th place in a 10-team league, a game-and-a-half out of 6th, which is where the playoff cut is made.

Kellner and Co. stay in Pennsylvania for now, and will play Penn State-Altoona Saturday afternoon.

After that, the Spartans close with two of their last three at home.

Wednesday’s match-up in Erie, just a short 2,558.9-mile trip from where Kellner played high school ball, offered a prime chance for D’Youville to make a positive move in the standings.

The Spartans rolled out an early 19-14 lead after one quarter of play, then surged to a double-digits lead midway through the second frame.

Kellner, after snagging a defensive rebound, came down and torched Penn State for a trey which stretched the margin to 26-16.

Things got dicier after that, however, as the Lions crawled back into the game, pulling within five at the half, and getting all the way back to just a basket behind after three quarters.

With the action going back-and-forth, Kellner hauled down a second rebound, which set up a teammate for a bucket, then drilled her second three-ball to push D’Youville in front 47-45 late in the third.

The Spartans led the game until late in the fourth, taking their final lead at 61-58 after Monica June slipped a pair of free throws through the net with 3:16 left on the clock.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, they went ice cold after that, missing their final six shots while Kellner sat on the bench.

Penn State wasn’t perfect down the stretch, clanking four of 10 free throws in the final three minutes, but it kept on snagging rebounds, and getting more freebies, until things piled up in its advantage.

Kellner, who played 11 minutes, finished with six points and two rebounds.

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CHS grad Kailey Kellner lets fly during a college basketball game. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Kellner)

Welcome back to the floor.

As she plays her sophomore season at D’Youville College in New York, Coupeville grad Kailey Kellner has seen her minutes bounce all over the place.

She’s far from the only Spartans player to be experiencing this, as their coaches, at least from the outside, seem to be experimenting a bit, mixing and matching lineups.

The key is to stay ready, whether you get three minutes on the floor or a season-high 24, like Kellner did Saturday.

Facing off with league-leading La Roche in Pittsburgh, the former Wolf used her time well, popping for eight points, hauling in three rebounds, dealing out four assists and snatching a steal.

While it wasn’t quite enough to fuel an upset, as the home town powerhouse escaped with a 78-67 win after the game was tied with eight minutes to play, Kellner’s play will hopefully pay off with more-consistent minutes.

Her points came courtesy a long jumper and a pair of three-balls, the second of which knotted the game at 55-55 two minutes into the fourth quarter.

D’Youville is chasing a playoff berth, sitting at 4-7 in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play, 7-11 overall.

The Spartans are tied for seventh in a 10-team league, a game off the sixth, and final, playoff berth with seven regular-season games left to play.

Other than La Roche and Hilbert sitting in a tie atop the standings at 10-2, the standings are jammed fairly tightly.

D’Youville is both two games out of shooting all the way up to fourth, and two games away from crashing into dead last place, making the remaining games ultra-important.

The Spartans kick off a three-game home stand next Wednesday, Jan. 30, with Medialle College coming to Buffalo.

Kellner, who is one of seven players on a 13-woman roster to have played all 18 games this season, is averaging 2.3 points a night.

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