JEFFERSON TWP — With three minutes left in the first quarter, Scott Fraser looked up at the scoreboard and saw the ugly numbers.

Knoch, five points; Valley, 12.

Just 24 hours earlier, the Knights had to gaze up at similarly unattractive numbers in a disheartening loss to Steel Valley.

This time, though, Fraser and the Knoch boys basketball team weren't about to let that poor Monday spill over into Tuesday.

The Knights shook off those shooting doldrums and shot a scintillating 80 percent from the floor in the second quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a 14-point lead.

Knoch led by as many as 29 in the second half on the way to a 67-49 win in its home opener Tuesday night.

“As soon as we get going, there's no stopping us,” said Fraser, who scored 23 points — all coming in the first three quarters. “When we're not shooting well, we've realized we have to do other things to win. We went to the hoop today. We did what we need to do to win.

“I was feeling it,” added Fraser, who was aggressive going to the basketball and also finished with 10 rebounds. “I felt the energy out there and I just fed off that. It got me fired up.”

Knoch (3-3) shot just 25 percent in that shaky first quarter before turning things around.

The Knights also had a big third quarter before Valley went on a 10-0 run near the end of the period to make things a little more interesting.

Nyjewel Carter kept the Vikings somewhat close, scoring a game-high 28 points and hitting eight 3-pointers.

Jared Schrecengost was tasked with following Valley's sharpshooter all over the court and contested nearly every shot.

“It was a hard 28,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb. “I told Schreck that (Carter will) get 20, 25 shots. (Schrecengost) was gassed, but boy he just has a motor that doesn't stop. I can't say enough about his motor.”

Jake Schiedt was another player McNabb couldn't say enough about.

The point guard was adept at breaking the Valley pressure and finding his teammates for open looks.

“We're trying to play a little bit more up-tempo,” McNabb said. “We think we have the guys who can do that and if we can handle this pressure, we can handle anyone's pressure.

“Jake got the ball into our shooter's hands,” McNabb added. “Jake has gotten much much better for us. When he got the ball, he went. That's what we want him to do. I told him I'd rather he make a turnover going 100 miles per hour than playing timid.”

The win has also big coming off the disappointing loss at Steel Valley in which Knoch was 0-for-10 shooting from 3-point range in the first half and 5-for-23 in the game.

The Knights were 8-for-18 from behind the arc against Valley.

“It was a great bounce-back game and it was great to go into section play with a win like this. It'll give these guys some confidence,” McNabb said.

Knoch had balanced scoring after Fraser's big game.

Julian Sanks scored nine points on three 3-pointers; Schrecengost and Adam Bajuszik each had eight and Schiedt and Cole Lassinger each added seven for Knoch.

The Knights open the section schedule at Mount Pleasant Friday night.

VALLEY 49

Elijah Murray 2-7 4-6 8, David Primus 0-3 1-2 1, Nyjewel Carter 9-25 2-2 28, Roman Flenory 2-4 0-0 4, Deonte Ross 2-7 0-2 4, Isiah Mangol 0-4 0-0 0, Adisun Jackson 2-2 0-0 4, Eddie Hyatt 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 17-54 7-12 49.

KNOCH 67

Scott Fraser 9-14 4-4 23, Brady McKee 1-4 0-0 3, Jared Schrecengost 3-8 1-4 8, Jake Schiedt 3-5 1-3 7, Julian Sanks 3-7 0-1 9, Adam Bajuszik 2-5 2-2 8, Cole Lassinger 2-2 1-2 7, Ryan Lang 1-1 2-2 4, Rocky Kopac 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Tristani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-46 11-18 67.

Valley 14 6 12 17 — 49

Knoch9 25 21 12 — 67

3-point goals: Valley 8 (Carter 8), Knoch 8 (Fraser, McKee,Schrecengost, Sanks 3, Bajuszik 2

Friday: Knoch at Mt. Pleasant