CLARION — With his team trailing by double digits midway through the fourth quarter, Moniteau boys basketball coach Randy Armagost turned to his bench, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know what else to do."

Armagost had tried everything to stem the Keystone tide in the District 9 Class AA title game at Tippin Gymnasium Friday night.

He put his two point guards on the floor at the same time. He went with a big lineup and a small lineup. He tried zone and man-to-man defenses.

Nothing worked in a 57-40 loss to Keystone that also ended Moniteau's season with the suddenness of a car smashing into a brick wall.

"There's not a lot of double-A teams (in District 9)," Armagost said. "We only get one seed and somebody is going to go (to the PIAA playoffs) and somebody is going to stay home. Unfortunately, I've gone home three times now."

It was Armagost's third District 9 title game loss in six seasons.

This was a tough one for the 22-4 Warriors to swallow.

Moniteau was never in the game. It led once, 3-2 just minutes into the contest, and fell behind by eight at the end of the first eight minutes.

The deficit grew to 10 at the half and 15 late in the third quarter.

"Keystone played a great game," Armagost said. "They came in and shut us down. They shut down whatever we were trying to do offensively. When we got down, our kids kind of got the jitters."

The Panthers (18-8) hounded Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference MVP Tyler Grossman relentlessly throughout the game.

Keystone held the senior guard to only one point in the first half and only two points after three quarters.

Grossman didn't hit his first shot from the floor until the 3:05 mark of the fourth quarter.

Keystone coach Greg Heath flashed a sly smile when asked what he did to limit Moniteau's star.

"It was just a little something we've been saving," Heath said. "I thought it would work, but I didn't think it would work that well."

Grossman had two people in his face the entire game. Keystone also had a bunch of people crashing the boards on every Warriors miss.

After scoring 10 points in the final quarter, he did finish with 12 points. But they were much too late to make an impact on the game.

"We did a lot of standing around and didn't set any screens," Armagost said. "It takes more than one kid to win a championship."

One of the big reasons for Moniteau's success this season has been its ability to get second and third shots by dominating the offensive glass. The Warriors were outrebounded for the first time this season and were held to only eight offensive rebounds.

"We were all standing around and standing outside," Armagost said. "We had nobody in the paint hardly at all."

After the loss, Armagost gathered his team in the Clarion University basketball office and talked to them.

It was a difficult speech to a group of players who had been working hard to win a district title.

"We've had a good season," Armagost said. "We won 22 games — the most by a Moniteau team in school history, we won the league for the first time in 30 years. They never quit so no one can call them losers. It just wasn't our night."

KEYSTONE 57

Luca Montana 1-2 0-0 2, Kyle Rhoads 3-7 8-10 15, Jake Switzer 2-6 0-0 5, Dan Ferringer 8-14 0-3 19, Alex Rowan 0-0 0-0 0, Derek Swartfager 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Cataldo 0-0 0-0 0, Dan Irwin 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle McMunn 2-6 2-4 7, Ben Colantonio 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Nesta 2-2 1-2 5, Justin Bifano 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 20-42 11-19 57

MONITEAU 40

Matt Buczkowski 2-6 0-1 4, Zack Thompson 2-9 0-1 4, Tyler Armagost 5-8 0-0 11, Matt Schandelmeier 2-3 0-0 4, Garth Kohlmeyer 1-3 0-0 3, Tyler Grossman 3-11 6-8 12, Barry Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Cousins 1-3 0-0 2, Aaron Randall 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Loos 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Morrow 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Howland 0-0 0-0 0 Clay Campbell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 6-9 40

3-point goals:

Rhoads, Switzer, Ferringer 3, McMunn, Armagost, Kohlmeyer