CHAMBERSBURG - With every elevation, the gym got quiet.
With every ball that rolled out of
Keith Blassingale's hand, the basket got bigger.
There are times when every player feels like they have entered the zone. For the fifth consecutive game, the Rosemont junior forward appeared to live in it full-time.
Blassingale set a new single-game scoring record, pouring in 45 points on 16 of 25 shooting from the floor and 9 of 17 from beyond the 3-point line as Rosemont advanced to its first Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball championship game with a resounding 113-79 win over Wilson College Tuesday night in the CSAC Semifinals at Frank E. Gannett Memorial Fieldhouse.
The Ravens will take on Cairn- who rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Centenary 82-71 in the other CSAC Semifinal on Wednesday night. The championship game is scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon in Langhorne with a start time to be announced.
"I think we've known all year that we would have to go through (Cairn) and they probably knew they would have to go through us," Rosemont head coach
Robert Hughes said. "This is what you play for. And our guys tonight had a total team effort."
It was an overall balanced team performance.
Jalil Myers put up 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to mark his ninth double-double of the season and 19th of his Rosemont career.
Marlon Sharpton had 14 points and dished off three assists.
Jacob Simonson had 10. The Ravends shot a jaw-dropping 57 percent from the floor (41-for-71) and 13-of-27 from beyond the 3-point line (48.1 percent).
But the story of the night was Blassingale, who broke the previous high mark of 32 that had been set three times - twice by Marcus Thomas during the 2015-16 season and once by Jameer Hughes in February, 2017. The nine 3-pointers shattered the school record for 3-pointers in a game, which had been six. That was set five times- the last coming by Khai Roberts during a playoff game against Immaculata in 2017.
Over his last five games, Blassingale has averaged 30 points a game while shooting 50 for 76 from the floor and 18 of 41 from beyond the 3-point line.
"They were giving me some shots early," Blassingale said. "And then, once the shots started falling, I tried to keep working it around for everyone else. The most important thing for me, though, was getting the 'W'."
"Keith has been able to get his shots off, but doing it in a very controlled manner," Hughes said. "That's what we've wanted and needed. And he's been giving it to us."
This is the second straight year that Blassingale will appear in a CSAC championship game. He was part of the Cabrini squad that won the league title in 2018.
"My goal has been to help this school and help Coach Hughes get to this point," Blassingale said. "We know that Cairn is going to be tough. We're going to have to be ready."