JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch guard Adam Seger swiped the basketball from a Kittanning player, took a few dribbles and launched a half-court shot just before the first-half buzzer.

Swish.

At the time, Seger's desperation heave was nothing more than vanity points on the way to what looked like a Knoch rout.

But Kittanning had other ideas.

While Seger's shot gave the Knights a 12-point halftime lead, by the end of the game Knoch needed those three points more than it thought it would 16 minutes earlier in a 56-52 home win Tuesday night.

"It's a section win," said Knoch coach Chris Andreassi. "They don't count the style points. They count the wins and losses."

But securing that victory wasn't an easy matter.

Knoch did make it look easy in the first half, opening with a 6-0 run and leading by eight points at the end of the first quarter.

The Knights closed the half with a layup with eight second remaining and then the steal and 3-pointer by Seger to take a 35-23 lead into the break.

"That was really a five-point swing," said Kittanning coach William Henry. "I'm proud of the way we came back from that."

Kittanning opened the second half with six quick points and closed the gap to two points by the end of the third quarter.

The Wildcats got as close as 50-49 with 2:45 remaining in the game and again by a point with five seconds left but could never get the lead.

Instead, Corey Miller drained a free throw and Seger made two more foul shots in the waning seconds to secure the win.

"I'm so proud of these guys," Henry said. "I can't say enough about the effort in the second half. To come back and to be within one with a couple of seconds left — I can't say enough about the heart, the desire and all that other stuff these kids had."

Despite Kittanning's comeback, Knoch didn't wilt under the pressure.

There was no panic from the Knights — a quality Andreassi was more than pleased to see.

"There are going to be a lot of games like this," Andreassi said. "We need to be able to keep our composure."

Jake McTighe finished with 15 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

Nathan Junk added 10, and Corey Miller and Andrew Wirtz each added nine.

Kittanning was led by Dylan Klingensmith, who did everything but sweep the court at halftime.

Klingensmith scored 28 points and had a slew of assists for the Wildcats.

KITTANNING 52Dylan Klingensmith 13-19 2-4 28, Nathan Stolitza 3-8 3-4 11, Mike Rettig 0-2 0-0 0, Sam McCanna 4-9 0-0 11, Tim Barto 1-1 0-0 2, Rob Dunn 0-0 0-2 0, Jesse Letterich 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 21-49 5-10 52.

KNOCH 56Corey Miller 3-3 1-4 9, Andrew Wirtz 4-12 0-0 9, Jake McTighe 5-11 5-10 15, Nathan Junk 5-10 0-0 10, Adam Seger 2-5 2-3 7, Kevin Wood 1-3 0-0 2, Robert Zanella 0-2 1-2 1, Chris Cetnar 1-3 0-0 3.

Totals: 21-49 9-19 56.

Kittanning 9 14 15 14—52Knoch 17 18 8 13—563-point goals: Kittanning 5 (McCanna 3, Stolitza 2); Knoch 5 (Miller 2, Wirtz, Seger, Cetnar).

JV Score: Knoch 52-7

Today: Knoch at Mohawk