Knoch's Brady McKee (23) goes up for a shot against Armstrong's Gavin Szymanski and Jalen Price (11) during the Knights' ??-?? loss at the Armstrong Boys Basketball Tip-Off Tournament Friday night.

KITTANNING — There was one number Knoch boys basketball coach Ron McNabb loved.

And one ... not so much.

The Knights' coach lauded his defense, which held Armstrong to a mere 37 points at the River Hawks' tip-off tournament Friday night. But the 32 points his team only managed to register had him scratching his head following the 37-32 setback.

“If someone told me we'd hold them to 37 and lose, I'd say no way,” McNabb said. “We shoot the ball well and I think we run some pretty good stuff. It was just one of those nights when it didn't fall.”

That came as a surprise to McNabb, who said Knoch had a great summer shooting.

But that didn't translate to the opener. The Knights shot just 33 percent from the floor and didn't reach double digits in any quarter.

“We're so much better than that,” McNabb said. “All summer long we focused on our shooting and we were lighting it up. It might have been first-game jitters, but these guys have been through enough battles they have to fight through that.”

The first half was a slog for a pair of teams trying to find their shooting touch.

After the first quarter, it was just 9-7 Armstrong. At the half, Knoch was down 17-14.

Knoch's leading scorer from a season ago, Julian Sanks, was held scoreless in the first two quarters and attempted just three shots.

“We knew they were going to go after Julian,” McNabb said.

Sanks got more involved in the offense in the second half, helping Knoch come to within one of the lead, and finished with seven points.

But the Knights couldn't wrest the lead away from Armstrong at any point.

Isaiah Price paced the River Hawks with 17 points.

No Knoch player reached double digits. Brady McKee came off the bench to lead the Knights with eight points.

Knoch will play Blackhawk in the consolation game Saturday.

“Hopefully we'll use this as a learning experience,” McNabb said. “In the long run, it's a non-section game and we can work out those kinks now.”

Boys

KNOCH 32

Julian Sanks 2-9 2-4 7, Rocky Kopac 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Scheidt 1-3 0-0 3, Scott Fraser 1-5 0-0 3, Jared Schrecengost 3-9 0-0 6, Brady McFee 3-6 2-2 8, Ryan Lang 2-4 0-0 5, Adam Bajuszik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-36 4-6 32.

ARMSTRONG 37

Cole Brown 0-1, 1-2 1, Jalen Price 1-4 2-6 4, Isaiah Price 4-11 7-11 17, Gavin Szymanski 3-6 0-0 7, Issac Weaver 1-1 0-0 2, Michael Quartz 3-4 0-0 6, Maverick Good 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-27 7-19 37.

Knoch 7 7 9 9 — 32

Armstrongt9 8 11 9 — 37

3-point goals: Knoch 4 (Sanks, Fraser, Scheidt, McKee); Armstrong 3 (I. Price 2, Szymski)

GirlsArmstrong 50, Knoch 33For the first eight-plus minutes, everything was falling into place for a young and inexperienced Knoch team.The Knights led Armstrong 15-8 after the first quarter.But then things started to unravel.“We started out well. We were playing hard, playing pretty good basketball,” said Knoch coach Chris Andreassi. “And then we started racking up the fouls.”And then Armstrong settled down.Knoch still led by a point at the half, but that quickly disappeared in the third quarter.“I think the positive is what happened when the game got away from us — too many fouls, too many reaches, and we weren't getting help-side defense — those are correctable things,” Andreassi said.It wasn't a bad debut for a team that lost all five starters to graduation.Knoch shot well from behind the arc, draining seven 3-pointers and Skye Burkett led a balanced attack with 11 points.But the inexperience showed at times.“They did a lot of good things and when we started to get down, we started to panic,” Andreassi said. “We have to learn to keep our poise.”Laryn Bowser paced Armstrong with 14 points.Knoch will play West Shamokin in the consolation game Saturday.GirlsKNOCH 33Nevaeh Ewing 2 0-4 4, Madilyn Boyer 2 1-2 7, Abbey Shearer 1 0-0 2, Skye Burjkett 3 -2 11, Lauren Cihonski 1 1-2 3, Terann McElravy 1 0-0 3, Jaylee Lassinger 1 0-0 3, Amanda Hockstein 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 4-10 33.ARMSTRONG 50Emma Halutick 1 0-0 2, Jaylen Callipare 3 6-8 12, Jenna Gasbarro 1 0-2 2, Madi Lorigan 3 2-2 11, Shae Clark 0 1-2 1, Ally Rogalski 0 0-0 0, Laryn Bowser 7 0-0 14, Sophia Funcan 3 2-3 8. Totals: 18 11-17 50.Knoch 15 6 7 5 — 33Armstrong8 12 18 12 — 503-point goals: Knoch 7 (Burkett 3, Boyer 2, McElravy, Lassinger); Armstrong 3 (Lorigan 3)

Knoch's Madilyn Boyer looks for a open teammate as she is guarded by Armstrong's Shae Clark at the Armstrong Girls Basketball Tip-Off Tournament Friday night. Armstrong defeated the Lady Knights.