JEFFERSON TWP — Austin Hannes made an immediate impact in his return to Knoch's starting lineup.

Hannes, a junior point guard, missed last Friday's loss to Mars after tweaking his left knee. In Tuesday night's home game against Freeport, he hit a pair of 3-pointers during the Knights' 15-0 run in the first six minutes of the game.

He finished with a team-high 15 points as Knoch rolled to a 54-38 Section 1-AAA boys basketball victory.

“I had to watch the Mars game from the bench and it felt great to get back out there tonight,” said Hannes. “We started out shooting the ball really well. Coach (Ron McNabb) told us to come out and don't give them (Yellowjackets) any hope.”

“He is the quarterback of the team,” McNabb said of Hannes. “With him back, we were able to move Aiden Albert back to (shooting guard). We have two very capable point guards, but when one is out, it puts a lot more pressure on the other.”

Jackson McKee also drained a trey during Knoch's opening onslaught. The Knights hit seven 3-pointers in the game.

“We've struggled to score this year and with us being an inside-oriented team, it was nice to hit some 3-pointers to stretch out the defense,” said McNabb.

Freeport's comeback attempt fell almost exclusively on the shoulders of senior forward Josh Beale, who scored his team's first 12 points and tallied 31 of the Yellowjackets' 38 points in the game.

Beale was 12-of-20 from the field and drained four 3-pointers.

“I thought we ended up getting some good looks, but we just didn't hit the shots,” said Freeport coach Mike Beale. “The offense has struggled this year, we've had some injuries and illnesses with the kids. We're trying to get our feet back under us. I have faith in the kids and the other coaches have faith in them. We'll keep working hard and trying to improve.”

McNabb has formed a great respect for Josh Beale.

“He's been a thorn in my side the last three years,” he said. “I told him before the game that I'm glad he's a senior.”

The Knights (7-5, 4-3) struggled to shut the door on the 'Jackets (6-8, 1-6). When Mason Eddinger hit a 3-pointer with 4:28 left, the Knoch lead was down to 45-36.

The Knights had tallied just a pair of free throws in the first 5:30 of the fourth quarter, but Hannes sank a bucket to push the lead back to 48-36 with 2:04 left.

“We relaxed a bit,” McNabb admitted. “We need to have more of a killer instinct.”

McKee added 11 points for Knoch and Mac Christy scored 10.

FREEPORT 38

Mason Eddinger 2 0-3 5, Kris Keppel 0 2-2 2, Josh Beale 12 3-4 31, Kevin Lynch 0 0-0 0, Brandon Hochbein 0 0-0 0, Ben Beale 0 0-0 0, Derek Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 5-9 38.

KNOCH 54

Austin Hannes 4 4-6 15, Aiden Albert 3 0-0 7, Mac Christy 4 2-4 10, Josh Knochel 0 1-2 1, Jackson McKee 4 1-5 11, P.J. Gourley 3 1-2 7, Devin Campbell 1 0-0 3, Mike DiPasquale 0 0-0 0, Alex Stobert 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 9-19 54.

Freeport 5 9 15 9 — 38

Knoch17 14 13 10 — 54

3-point goals: Freeport 5 (J. Beale 4, Eddinger); Knoch 7 (Hannes 3, McKee 2, Albert, Campbell).

Friday: Knoch at Hampton; Freeport at Highlands