HAMPTON — Too little, too late?

More like too much, too early.

The Knoch boys basketball team missed too many shots and fell behind by way too much before launching a furious rally in a 52-45 road loss to Hampton Friday night.

"We didn't shoot the ball well," said Knoch coach Chris Andreassi. "I give credit to them for playing good defense."

The Knights, coming off a game in which they scored 95 points in a one-point win on Tuesday, managed just 17 in the first half against the Talbots.

Knoch missed 13 straight shots in a scoreless eight-minute stretch and fell behind by as many as 16 in the second quarter.

Still, the Knights trailed by just seven at halftime.

"We knew what we were in for coming down here," Andreassi said. "In this section, every game is a must win, and when you go on the road, everyone feels their back is against the wall."

Against the wall, Knoch fought back.

The deficit grew to 16 points again late in the third quarter before the Knights went on a 14-0 run to cut it to two midway through the fourth quarter.

Unusually quiet for 24 minutes, Rob Briggs produced some thunder in the final period, scoring 13 of his team-leading 18 points in the final eight minutes.

Briggs was left one-on-one for much of the game inside as Hampton chose to pay close attention to Michael Gallagher at the 3-point line.

Gallagher managed just five points and only five shot attempts the entire game.

That left Briggs to fend for himself inside, which he did in the fourth quarter.

"He started taking it to the basket. He started taking right to them and they couldn't handle him," Andreassi said. "He just made up his mind he was going to get to the rim and they weren't going to stop him."

Briggs, though, couldn't bring the Knights all the way back.

The Talbots (6-3, 3-2) pushed the lead back to seven with a little more than a minute remaining, as solid free throw shooting down the stretch kept Knoch at arm's length.

The Talbots hit 8-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter.

"We're a young team," said Hampton coach Joe Lafko. "I think it was a good sign tonight that we were able to hold on, make our free throws and get this victory."

Andreassi was equally pleased with how his team fought back from a big deficit twice.

"These guys aren't going to pack it in, ever," Andreassi said. "These guys are competitive. They are battlers."

Jake McTighe added 12 points for Knoch (5-3, 2-2), which heads into the holiday break stinging from a section loss.

"This one would have been nice for us," Andreassi said. "But you have to move on."

KNOCH 45Shawn Samek 1-3 0-0 2, Michael Gallagher 1-5 2-2 5, Kyle Reiser 4-11 0-2 8, Jake McTighe 5-11 1-2 12, Rob Briggs 8-20 1-2 18, Andrew Wirtz 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Boldy 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Lio 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-51 4-8 45

HAMPTON 52Bill Luther 3-8 1-2 9, Nate Winek 1-2 0-0 3, Greg Conner 0-1 0-0 0, Dan O'Mara 4-9 0-0 9, Pat Dill 6-9 5-6 17, Jordan Paskorz 0-1 1-2 1, Matt Madia 1-9 4-6 7, Dan Hannan 0-2 0-0 0, Tim Donegan 3-5 0-0 6. Totals: 18-46 11-16 52

Knoch 8 9 12 16—45Hampton 11 13 16 12—523-point goals: Gallagher, Briggs, McTighe; Luther, Winek, O'Mara,Madia

JV: Hampton 44-42 (OT)

Wednesday: Knoch vs. Father Lopez (Fla.) at Blackhawk Tournament