JEFFERSON TWP — Starting with Tuesday's game against Deer Lakes, Knoch boys basketball coach Les Shoop is looking for a strong four-game run to help the team's playoff chances.

He couldn't have imagined a better start.

Trailing 11-8, the Knights went on a 23-3 run bridging the first and second quarters en route to a 91-67 Section 1-AAA victory.

Knoch (12-6, 5-4) netted 13 3-pointers on 24 attempts (54.2 percent), including seven from Scott Muska, and the Knights made 35 of 60 shots overall (58.3).

"They were collapsing inside and daring us to make those," said Shoop about his team's 3-point attempts."

"They started beating us in transition," said Deer Lakes coach Kevin Smetak. "We didn't rotate well in transition. We tried to keep two back to rotate."

Muska scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the first half while Bill Elliott added 11 and Rob Briggs had 10 at the break.

"Muska's worked so hard at his game," said Shoop. "Good for him."

Things were going so well for the Knights that the team's leading scorer, Jordan Shoop, didn't score a point until 49 seconds remained in the first half. He finished with 16 points and added 12 assists.

"That's the best we've shot, but I didn't think we played real good defensively," said Les Shoop

Deer Lakes set the tempo early, jumping out to an 11-8 lead, but the Knights answered with the next 10 points — two 3-pointers by Muska and a pair of scores by Briggs.

A Scott Orris free throw and a basket by Jon Bastian pulled the Lancers (7-13, 1-8) to within four at 18-14, with 1:09 left in the quarter. However, the Knights scored the next 13 points and 25 of the next 30 to open a 43-19 advantage with 2:42 left before halftime.

"That's the best I've seen Knoch play in a long time," said Smetak. "That's a credit to Les.

"If you have a race and they have a thoroughbred, you're in trouble," Smetak added.

The Knights are tied for third in the section with Valley, which lost to Highlands Tuesday night.

"Our kids know where we're at and what we have to do," said Shoop.

Notes:

Briggs finished with 18 points and Elliott with 13. The Lancers received 17 from Bastian, 16 from Bill Holtz and 13 from Orris. … The game was Jordan Shoop's 95th with the varsity squad, tying him with Aaron Faulx as the most in program history. … The Knights had four 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters.

DEER LAKES 67

Jon Bastian 7 0-1 17, Matt Teorsky 0 0-0 0, Bill Holtz 6 2-3 16, Scott Orris 6 1-2 13, Nick Latronica 3 2-2 8, Jeff Kaufman 3 2-2 8, Brendan Tatar 2 0-0 5, Chase Luisi 0 0-0 0, Ian Menego 0 0-0 0, Darin Van Horn 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 7-10 67.

KNOCH 91

Scott Muska 10 3-4 30, Jordan Shoop 6 2-2 16, Bill Elliott 5 1-2 13, Rob Briggs 9 0-0 18, Alex Whisler 1 0-0 3, D'Ante Natili 1 2-2 5, Joel Berger 1 0-0 2, Logan Baker 0 0-0 0, Ben Hutterer 0 0-0 0, Dan Pickard 0 0-0 0, Paul Hancheck 0 0-0 0, Justin Thompson 2 0-0 4. Totals: 35 8-10 91.

3-point goals:

Bastian 3, Holtz 2, Tatar; Muska 7, Shoop 2, Elliott 2, Natili, Whisler

JV:

Knoch, 50-29

Thursday:

Knoch at Leechburg