This defense never rests
BUFFALO TWP — The Knoch boys basketball team wasn't feeling in the Christmas spirit.
Instead of giving, the Knights were keeping.
Clinging to a lead in the fourth quarter, Knoch kept possession for much of the frame, milking time off the clock and playing keep-away from Avonworth on the way to a 51-37 win at the Freeport Holiday Tournament Monday afternoon.
“That's what we wanted to do,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb. “We wanted to take the air out of the ball.”
Knoch (4-4) did that the entire day, but more so in the final eight minutes.
Avonworth (7-2) came into the game averaging 66 points per outing and had never been held to fewer than 57 this season.
“We didn't want to get into an up-and-down game with them,” McNabb said. “They have had some big scoring games. We did not want that. I was real happy with our discipline in the fourth quarter.”
It helps that Knoch basically has two point guards on the floor most of the time.
Austin Hannes is the primary point guard, but Aiden Albert filled in for Hannes for a large chunk of last season when Hannes was out with a knee injury.
Both played a key role on both ends of the floor in the Knights' win Monday.
Hannes scored 13 points and showed the explosiveness that made him one of the most dangerous guards in the WPIAL before his injury last season.
“You can see a little more rust coming off with each practice and each game,” McNabb said of Hannes. “He's smiling a little bit because he's not worrying about that knee. He's only scratched the surface. There's a high ceiling for Austin.”
Albert scored six points, but his work on defense against Avonworth star guard Garrett Day is what stood out.
Day was held to nine points on 3-of-18 shooting with Albert guarding him most of the game.
“I was more pleased with how we played defensively,” McNabb said. “I thought we did a really good job. They have a lot of talented offensive kids.
“Garrett Day is one of the best point guards out there,” McNabb added. “And Aiden Albert handled him. He was smart and he was in the right position. He forced him into a lot of turnovers and a lot of bad shots, too.”
Mac Christy led Knoch with 14 points — 10 in the second half as Knoch pulled away from the Antelopes, extending a 25-19 lead at the half to a 41-31 lead at the end of three.
It was a good test for the Knights, McNabb said.
“It's a great holiday tournament,” McNabb said. “I was very worried coming into this game because I did my homework on them and I knew they were good. It's a great test for us because they play up-and-down. We had to hunker down in the paint and we handled that stuff pretty well.”
Freeport 44, East Allegheny 38 — East Allegheny's game-plan was simple.Keep the ball out of the hand of Josh Beale.That worked well in the first half. Not so well in the second.Beale scored nine of his game-high 16 points in the third quarter as Freeport turned a 20-17 halftime deficit into a six-point win.“They pulled out a 1-3 chaser on Josh,” said Freeport coach Mike Beale. “We prepared for it. We've been prepared for it. Josh did a nice job not losing his composure.”Josh Beale took just one shot in the first half and had four points at the break.The third quarter was a different story as the forward scored the first six points of the second half for the Yellowjackets.Still, Freeport trailed by a point at the end of the third quarter, but closed the game on a 9-3 run.“We tried to turn up the intensity in the second half and get out and run,” Coach Beale said. “I thought we did a good job switching up defensively. We hit some foul shots when we needed to and had some good possessions in the end that we were able to capitalize on.”Kris Keppel added 10 points and Kevin Lynch pitched in nine points and four assists for Freeport (5-4).“We had some other guys step up and hit some shots down the stretch,” Coach Beale said.KNOCH 51Aiden Albert 1-2 3-5 6, Devin Campbell 2-8 0-0 6, Mac Christy 7-11 0-0 14, Josh Knochel 1-4 0-0 3, Austin Hannes 4-12 2-3 13, Jackson McKee 1-7 6-8 9, Ben Lucas 0-0 0-0 0, Julian Sanks 0-0 0-0 0, Ben McMillan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-44 11-16 51.AVONWORTH 37Garrett Day 3-18 1-2 9, Jamal Hughley 6-12 2-2 14, Zach Chandler 0-5 1-2 1, Cole Jenkins 2-4 0-0 4, Tyreek Davis 2-4 2-3 6, Matt Crilley 1-3 0-0 3, Mike Noethinger 0-2 0-0 0, Darius Simmons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-49 6-9 37.Knoch 13 12 16 10 — 51Avonworth 8 11 12 6 — 373-point goals: Knoch 8 (Albert, Campbell 2, Hannes 3, McKee, Knochel)Today: Knoch vs. East AlleghenyEAST ALLEGHENY 38Adam Bannister 3-11 0-0 8, TJ Banks 2-6 4-7 8, Cedric Blakman 0-8 0-0 0, Jahi Rox 3-10 0-1 6, Tech Brown 3-7 2-3 8, Olayawon Owens 4-9 0-0 8, Malik Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Giglio 0-0 0-0 0, Malik Jones 0-0 0-0 0 Totals: 15-51 6-11 38.FREEPORT 44Mason Eddinger 2-13 1-2 7, Kevin Lynch 3-7 2-2 9, Kris Keppel 3-8 2-2 10, Brandon Hochbein 0-6 0-0 0, Ben Beale 0-1 0-0 0, Derek Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Josh Beale 5-7 5-6 16. Totals: 14-43 10-12 44.East Allegheny 9 11 10 8 — 38Freeport7 10 12 15 — 443-point goals: East Allegheny 2 (Bannister; Freeport 6 (Eddinger 2, Lynch, Keppel 2, Beale)Today: Avonworth vs. Freeport
