JEFFERSON TWP — Members of the Knoch boys basketball team are such gracious hosts.

With it being so cold outside, the Knights figured they'd warm up the visiting St. Joseph's Spartans with by shooting a toasty 31-of-50 for 62 percent from the field.

Knoch hit nine 3-pointers in the game and used a 16-2 advantage in the second quarter to take control in an 81-45 rout Monday evening.

"We shot the ball well tonight," said Knights coach Les Shoop. "And we passed the ball well. We ended up with a lot of assists, which means kids were passing up shots because a teammate had a better look."

The Knights featured four players in double figures: Rob Briggs and Scott Muska both with 19 points, Jordan Shoop with 13 and Bill Elliott had 12.

The Knights came out swinging with a 7-of-10 performance from the field in the first quarter, which included four 3-pointers.

But the Spartans were able to hang in, as Mike Barkowski's eight points helped the team enter the second period down just 21-15.

"We were playing aggressively in the first quarter," said St. Joseph's coach Kelly Robinson. "Our heads were in the game."

That all changed in the second quarter.

In the first 3:30 of the period, the Knights reeled off an 11-0 run. They walked to the locker room at halftime with a 37-17 lead.

"A few things happened at the beginning of the (second) quarter," said Robinson. "We tried calling a couple of time outs to break their momentum, but it's toughing getting back in sync when your opponent is shooting the ball so well."

Muska made six 3-pointers in the game.

"Coming into the season, he was the guy we were looking to from the outside," said Shoop. "And the thing with Scott is that he works so hard at the game."

Briggs tallied a 9-of-10 performance from the field while Jordan Shoop managed nine assists and Elliott led Knoch (3-1) with seven rebounds.

Knoch outrebounded St. Joseph's 24-14.

Barkowski led the Spartans (2-3) with 18 points.

SAINT JOSEPH'S 45

Anthony Mandak 1 0-0 2, Tony Fioravanti 1 0-0 2, Pat Totka 1 0-0 2, Chris Marsili 3 4-5 10, Matt Thimons 0 2-2 2, Nathan Vertosick 4 0-0 8, Rich Thimons 0 1-4 1, Mike Barkowski 5 8-10 18, Mike Jarosinski 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 15-21 45.

KNOCH 81

Scott Muska 6 1-2 19, Jordan Shoop 5 2-2 13, Paul Hancheck 1 0-0 2, Justin Thompson 1 0-0 2, Logan Baker 3 0-0 6, Takanori Koroki 0 2-2 2, Bill Elliott 5 2-2 12, Rob Briggs 8 3-4 19, Alex Whistler 2 0-0 6, Dan Pickard 0 0-0 0, Ben Hutterer 0 0-0 0, D'Ante Natili 0 0-0 0, Joel Berger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 31 10-12 81.

3-point goals:

Muska 6, Whistler 2, Shoop.

JV:

Knoch 47-18 (Knoch-Mike Gallagher 12 points)

Today:

Knoch at North Hills