Before its contest against Dallas County High School, Keith High held a ceremony honoring its Class 2A Boys’ and Girls’ State Basketball championships in 1998.

The Bears fueled that celebration into motivation, pulling off a 54-44 victory on Friday for their first win of the season.

“We knew it’d be an emotional game with the championship ceremony,” Bears coach Clifton Reeves said. “We knew Dallas County is a rivalry game.”

The Bears had three double-figure scorers and all played a big role at some point in the game. Junior Arayvion Jones led Keith (1-2) with 16 points. Seniors Mark Young Jr. and Kendarius Perry each added 12.

“Kendarius is a senior and when he’s on, he can shoot the basketball,” Reeves said. “In my opinion, there’s not many people who can stay in front of Arayvion. Mark also played great. Those three are our leaders.”

Jones didn’t mind coming off the bench to provide a spark for his teammates.

“Coming off the bench is a big help to the team,” Jones said. “I just went out and did my job. This was an important game.”

The game had the feel of a defensive struggle, as Keith led only 5-4 after one quarter. Both teams started cold, missing several three-point shots and layups.

The game picked up in the second quarter, combining to score 24 points, but the Bears took a 19-14 lead into halftime.

The Hornets reeled off seven straight points midway in the third quarter to grab a 24-23 lead. Darrius Ellis had five of his 13 points during the spurt.

Keith, however, rebounded, to close the quarter with a 13-8 run to lead 36-32. Young had five of those points, including a layup as the quarter expired.

Jones scored six points in the fourth quarter, ending any hopes of a Dallas County comeback. The Bears made free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

“If we kept them out of the game and held them to one shot, I knew we’d be okay,” Reeves said. “We did that in the second half.”

“We came out and had to play defense and not turn the ball over,” Perry said.

AlTraviion Rucker had 12 points for Dallas County.

Keith girls 31, Dallas County 24: Erica Smiley led the Lady Bears (1-2) with 12 points. Dallas County led most of the first half, only to have the Lady Bears took control in the fourth quarter. J’Kiera Peterson led the Lady Hornets with 10 points.

“It was a great defensive effort to get our first win of the season,” Lady Bears coach Cecil Williams said.