JEFFERSON TWP — It took less than four minutes for the Knoch boys basketball team to keep Freeport from successfully storming “The Castle.”

The Knights jumped out to a 9-0 lead midway through the first quarter and then spent the rest of the night making sure the Yellowjackets didn't get too close on the way to a 62-42 home section win — in what the student section refers to as “The Castle” —Friday night.

“With Austin Miller running the point, David Gallagher, Chris Kier and all these upperclassmen, we should do that,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb. “Freeport, I've been scared all week about this game. ... But I liked the way our kids came out and stayed focused.”

Freeport (2-2, 0-1) was never able to recover from the fast Knoch start.

The Yellowjackets trailed by 13 at the half and were down by as many as 19 late in the third quarter.

Freeport was able to cut the Knoch lead to 49-37 after a 3-pointer by Kris Keppel with 5:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Knights recovered and rebuilt the advantage to 19 a few minutes later.

“We got punched right in the mouth. How were we going to react?” McNabb said. “We responded, finally hit some free throws, ran our stuff, took some time off. I was pleased with that.”

Knoch (4-0, 1-0) scored 15 of its final 17 points from the foul line despite an uncharacteristic 23-of-38 free-throw-shooting night.

“Not good,” McNabb said.

What was good was the way Knoch played defense — on Josh Beale in particular.

The sophomore forward for Freeport did score 13 points to lead the Yellowjackets, but all of his points were hard-fought.

“I have to give Chris Kier and Troy Hixon a lot of credit,” McNabb said. “They busted their butts. They work hard, and (Josh Beale) was our focus. He's a really good player and we needed to take him out of their offense, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

Freeport coach Mike Beale was pleased with the way his team was able to keep fighting after the rocky start.

“One thing with this group, collectively, is they bite, scratch and claw every day,” Mike Beale said. “That's what I'm proud of.

“(Knoch's) an experienced, veteran team,” he added. “Four of the five (starters) are back for Coach McNabb. I really feel in the long run they can compete for a section title.”

Miller led Knoch with 17 points and Matt Zanella added 13.

Keppel had eight points for Freeport.

“Chris Keppel is doing a great job at the point position,” Mike Beale said. “Ryan Weigold is playing some great defense and Eric Davis is establishing himself.

“We're going to be getting better,” he added. “As you know, it's a journey and a process. It's just nice to get this one out of the way because this is a tough place to play.”

The Knights are also happy to get this one out of the way — with another win and a 4-0 overall record.

“We'll take that any day,” McNabb said. “Even more important is being 1-0 in the section.”

FREEPORT 42

Josh Beale 3-6 7-8 12, Eric Davis 2-3 2-3 6, Ryan Weigold 0-7 2-2 2, Seth Bowser 2-3 0-1 4, Hunter Fennell 2-3 0-0 4, Kris Keppel 2-4 2-2 8, Codey Digiacobbe 1-4 1-4 4, Mason Eddinger 0-4 0-0 0, Kevin Lynch 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Shannon 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Wise 0-0 0-0 0, Danny Fetchko 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-34 14-20 42.

KNOCH 62

Austin Miller 5-10 5-8 17, David Gallagher 2-7 4-6 9, Stephen Oblich 1-3 1-2 3, Matt Zanella 6-7 1-6 13, Chris Kier 1-2 6-8 8, Connor Shinsky 1-1 0-0 2, Jim Larrimer 2-2 0-0 4, Troy Hixon 0-0 2-2 2, Aidan Albert 0-0 3-4 3, Jordan Hickey 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 18-32 23-38 62.

Freeport 9 9 9 15—42

Knoch16 15 14 17—62

3-point goals: Freeport 4 (Fennell, Keppel 2, Digiacobbe); Knoch 3 (Miller 2, Gallagher)

JV: Knoch 40-31

Tuesday: Knoch at Kittanning; Valley at Freeport