BUFFALO TWP — Freeport gave itself a belated Christmas gift on Friday night.

Brendan Lynch scored 22 points and was named tournament MVP as the Yellowjackets rolled to a 64-44 boys basketball victory over Ford City in the Freeport Christmas Tournament finale.

The blowout gave Freeport rare back-to-back wins in the holiday event. Knoch went 2-0 in the tournament, as well, preceding the Yellowjackets' win with a 64-35 rout of Slippery Rock.

“I've been here close to 20 years now and I can't remember the last time we won both games,” said Freeport coach Mike Beale. “It's a nice Christmas present to say the least.”

After going scoreless in the first quarter, Lynch erupted for 11 points and spearheaded the Yellowjackets to a 27-15 advantage during the second frame. Lynch drilled a deep 2-point jumper with five seconds left in the half to give Freeport a 43-23 cushion heading into the locker rooms.

“That's why he's our team captain. He's our leader out there and he leads by example,” Beale said of Lynch. “We go as Brendan goes. He put the pedal to the metal tonight and we were able to get out and run with him.”

Robbie Miller tallied 14 points for the Yellowjackets (4-4) and was named to the all-tournament team, while Tony DeVivo added eight points — all in the first quarter — and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

“He had a monster game for us,” said Beale of DeVivo, who buried an off-balance putback with two seconds left in the first quarter for a 16-8 lead.

Zane Geist chipped in eight points for Freeport. Lynch and DeVivo led the Yellowjackets with three assists apiece.

Ford City's Jesse Sequiera was named all-tournament and tallied a team-high 17 points. The Sabers (2-7) played without leading scorer Dave Lattanzio.

“We contested everything, put a hand in their face and they made their shots tonight and we didn't,” said Ford City coach Greg Hutcherson. “It's hard to win games like that.”

Knoch 64, Slippery Rock 35 — Matt Zanella posted 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Austin Miller was perfect from the field on his way to 15 points, six assists and three steals in the Knights' runaway victory.

Knoch (5-4) began the game with a 15-2 surge and led 38-10 by halftime.

“I thought we played hard and ran the floor well,” said Knights coach Ron McNabb. “When we get our bigs rebounding and when we get our bigs running the floor, we're pretty effective because Austin Miller is very good in the open court.”

Miller and Zanella were both named to the all-tournament team, while David Gallagher knocked down a trio of 3-pointers among his 15 points. Marc Vaughan added five points, snagged seven rebounds and distributed three assists.

“I think they have every position covered,” said Slippery Rock coach Phil Bushre. “Miller is a heck of a point guard. It's scary that he's only a junior.”

Jake Whitmer paced Slippery Rock (0-8) with nine points. Dustin Mellott — who received all-tournament recognition — pitched in five points, while Ryan Currie registered five points with a team-best five rebounds and two steals.

After struggling to only 10 points through the first half, the Rockets started to find a groove and outscored Knoch 16-15 in the third quarter.

“It was a little late, but I thought we responded well,” said Bushre. “It's unfortunate that we just can't put four (quarters) together. I think we can play in spurts right now, but we're still trying to figure out who we are.”

The Knights held Slippery Rock to 14.8 percent shooting in the first two frames.

“I can't ask for much more than that,” said McNabb.

SLIPPERY ROCK 35

Ryan Currie 2-10 0-0 5, Jake Whitmer 3-7 2-3 9, Ryan Northcott 0-3 1-2 1, Dustin Mellott 2-9 0-0 5, Shane Karl 1-2 0-0 2, Dalmas Hayes 0-0 0-0 0, Bruce Pelletier 0-1 0-0 0, Bobby Paczkowski 2-4 0-0 5, Kyle Bell 0-3 0-0 0, Matt Badger 0-2 0-0 0, Reed Elder 1-3 0-0 2, Brady Kadlubek 1-3 1-2 4, CJ Welsh 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Rager 1-4 0-0 2, Joe Barnhart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-51 4-7 35.

KNOCH 64

Austin Miller 5-5 3-4 15, David Gallagher 6-10 0-0 15, Dakota Bruggeman 1-5 2-2 4, Marc Vaughan 2-8 1-3 5, Chris Kier 1-3 0-0 2, Matt Zanella 9-11 0-4 18, Ben Pfieffer 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Campbell 1-2 2-2 4, Asa Adams 0-0 2-2 2, Troy Hixson 0-2 0-0 0, Adam Albert 0-1 0-0 0, Trevor Swihart 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Kingan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-49 10-17 65.

Slippery Rock 7 3 16 9—35

Knoch21 17 15 12—64

3-point goals: Slippery Rock 5-21 (Kadlubek 1-2, Paczkowski 1-2, Currie 1-3, Whitmer 1-4, Mellott 1-5, Bell 0-2, Badger 0-2, Northcott 0-1). Knoch 5-10 (Gallagher 3-5, Miller 2-2, Pfieffer 0-2, Albert 0-1).

JV: Knoch 41, Slippery Rock 35 (K: Troy Hixson 21, Asa Adams 14; SR: Matt Badger 9; Camron Neal 9)

Friday: Highlands at Knoch

Jan. 8: Oil City at Slippery Rock

FORD CITY 44

Jesse Sequiera 5-14 6-7 17, Andrew Labutka 3-9 0-0 7, Noah Nulph 1-7 0-0 2, Brandon Hileman 0-4 1-6 1, Milo Kusnir 2-6 0-0 4, Mike Foster 1-1 0-2 2, Blake Bower 3-4 1-2 7, Jacob Bownan 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Cirincionne 1-5 2-3 4, David Kutsch 0-2 0-0 0, Cody Peppler 0-1 0-0. Totals: 16-53 10-20 44.

FREEPORT 64

Brendan Lynch 7-17 7-8 22, Robbie Miller 6-11 1-2 14, Tony DeVivo 2-5 4-4 8, Zane Geist 4-6 0-1 8, Ethan McCormick 0-2 0-0 0, Josh Beale 1-3 0-0 2, Scott Bowser 2-3 0-0 4, Fred Pastoria 2-4 0-1 4, Eric Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Fennell 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Wise 0-0 0-0 0, Casey Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Weigold 1-1 0-0 2, Mike Teorsky 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-52 12-16 64.

Ford City 8 15 11 10—44

Freeport16 27 12 9—64

3-point goals: Ford City 2-15 (Sequiera 1-3, Labutka 1-6, Nulph 0-3, Kutsch 0-2, Cirincionne 0-1). Freeport 2-13 (Lynch 1-4, Miller 1-6, Geist 0-1, Beale 0-1, Pastoria 0-1).

JV: Ford City 54, Freeport 50, 3 OT (FC: Bownan 16; F: Bower 11, Davis 11).

Jan. 8: Freeport at Kittanning