MONTGOMERY — Keith High School didn’t play their game against the Holy Spirit Titans with six players on the floor, but you wouldn’t have known it by the way the Bears played defense.

Keith (19-10) seemingly put a hand on every Holy Spirit pass and used a tough pressure defense to win 54-33, advancing them to the Class 1A Central regional final Saturday.

“Coming in, we got one film and we knew they would be very quick and athletic and that they were going to crash the boards,” Holy Spirit head coach Rodney Green said. “That’s exactly what they did … their match-up zone defense was so good, it was like they had six men. They touched every pass and even when we got a pass off, it was difficult to get a shot off.”

The Bears only trailed for a little bit in the first quarter, but controlled the scoreboard the majority of the game, despite missing easy baskets early in the half.

“It was like we were scared of contact,” Keith senior forward Christopher Oden said. “We couldn’t draw any contact. It was a little bit of nerves, but we just weren’t going strong to the basket.”

Oden led the Bears with 21 points and Keith’s forward Forrest Pasley chipped in with a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

At the half, Keith head coach Tommy Tisdale said he went in the locker room and told his team to relax.

“Our guys here (Oden, Forrest Pasley and Arthur Murry) this wasn’t their first time here, but for the rest of them this was the big stage,” he said. “So we just came in and gave them a chance and just let them relax and told them that’s just another high school. We aren’t playing Alabama State even though we are in their gym.”

After the half the Bears were able to be more aggressive to the basketball and cause Holy Spirit’s Ryan Harris to foul out early in the third quarter when Keith’s Bobby Barnes took a charge. This opened the shooting and driving lanes even more for Keith.

“Our hat goes off to (Barnes) for taking that charge, because that kind of swung the game in our favor,” Tisdale said. “That was very big. We still have starters on the floor and they have second-teamers. I tell my kids all the time that there is a reason they are on the bench, we have to find it and we were able to do that.”

Now the Bears attention turns to Parkway Christian on Saturday at 11:40 a.m. in Montgomery.

“We have an early turnaround,” Tisdale said. “We are going to get some practice in tomorrow and then get ready early.”