JEFFERSON TWP — Hampton wanted the ball in Matt Madia's hands. — and Knoch was helpless to stop it.

Madia scored a game-high 34 points, including 14 in the second half and 10 in the third overtime, in a thrilling 81-71 Section 1-AAA victory over the Knights Friday.

Madia connected on 13 of 14 free-throw attempts as well, with a perfect 8-for-8 in the third overtime.

"In close basketball game, free-throw shooting is always a deciding factor," said Hampton coach Joe Lafko. "We've been in a lot of close games, so it was nice to win one."

"He's a great player," said Knoch senior Kyle Reiser. "We were looking not to foul him, but he's very good at the line."

"We didn't want to foul (Madia), but he kept the ball in his hands," said Knoch coach Chris Andreassi. "CoachLafko does a great job in getting kids spread out in the right situations, who to have the ball and who not to foul,"Andreassi added.

Still, with the game tied at 68, the Talbots took over when Dan O'Mara scored, then Pat Dill stole the ball and scored 10 seconds later.

When Madia added a pair of free throws with 1:53 left, Hampton enjoyed a 74-68 lead.

Knoch countered with a free throw by Jake McTighe, who missed the second but Aaron Boldy's putback made it a 74-71.

Down the stretch, however, the Talbots (12-8, 6-5) sank 7 of 8 free throws to ice the game.

After trailing most of the night, things started to look up for the Knights (8-11, 3-6) when they closed out regulation by scoring five of the final six points to tie the game at 51, thanks to a 3-pointer by Rob Briggs with 59 seconds left, then a putback by McTighe with 11 seconds left.

Madia's attempt at a game-winning shot hit to the left of the rim.

In the first overtime, the Knights scored the first eight points to take a 59-51 lead. Briggs, who scored 22 points, fouled out with 2:29 left.

"You always hate to lose a player the caliber of Rob," said Andreassi. "Boldy came in and did a fantastic job."

The Knights had a chance to add to the lead, but a foul on a missed free-throw attempt by McTighe sent Hampton's Bill Luther to the free throw line, where he drained both shots.

Knoch turned over the inbounds pass and Madia fired up a 3-pointer to pull within three points with 1:38 left.

The Talbots took the lead, 63-62, before Reiser made a free throw with 32.2 seconds left.

In the second overtime, a 3-pointer by Reiser with 30 seconds left tied the game at 66. O'Mara missed a last-second shot, and the game went into a third overtime, where the Talbots took control.

Along with Madia, the Talbots were led by Dill, who added 21 points, and O'Mara, who had 12. Knoch had 14 from Shawn Samek and 13 from Reiser.

HAMPTON 81Bill Luther 1 4-4 7, Nate Winek 2 3-5 7, Greg Conner 0 0-0 0, Dan O'Mara 3 5-6 12, Pat Dill 9 3-8 21, Jordan Paskorz 0 0-0 0, Matt Madia 10 13-14 34, Dan Hannan 0 0-0 0, Ben Mall 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 25 28-37 81.

KNOCH 71Shawn Samek 5 1-2 14, Mike Gallagher 3 0-0 8, Kyle Reiser 3 5-12 13, Jake McTighe 2 2-5 6, Rob Briggs 9 3-4 22, Aaron Boldy 3 0-0 6, Andrew Wirtz 0 2-2 2, Chris Cetnar 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 25 13-25 71.

Hampton 14 10 11 16 12 3 15—81Knoch 10 9 10 22 12 3 5—713-point goals: Luther, O'Mara, Madia; Samek 3, Gallagher 2, Reiser, Briggs

JV: Hampton, 51-45

Saturday: Indiana at Knoch