JEFFERSON TWP — Chris Andreassi isn't sure what happened.

A switch was flicked.

His Knoch girls basketball team dramatically changed.

For the better.

“Something happened here ever since we played Freeport the last time,” Andreassi said. “Our practices have been unbelievable, off the charts. We haven't had a bad practice in that time.”

Knoch hasn't had many bad games since that 53-39 road setback to the Yellowjackets Jan. 9, either.

The Knights lost their next game to North Catholic, but have won eight straight since, including a revenge of sorts with a thrilling one-point victory over Freeport Monday.

“It's fun to be a part of,” Andreassi said.

And it's been, in a sense, historic for Knoch.

It's been a long time since the Knights have been this good. Knoch is 16-5 overall and 11-2 in the section heading into the regular season finale against North Catholic Thursday.

The Knights' last winning season came in 2008-09 — the seniors on this Knoch iteration were barely out of kindergarten. The last playoff win came during the same campaign.

That's a long drought and one the Knights have been thirsty to end.

“What we've been able to do these past four years has been incredible,” said senior Lauren Cihonski. “To make the playoffs our 10th- and 11th- and now our 12th-grade year has been great.”

But not completely satisfying.

The seniors have seen the steady climb of the program since two dreadful seasons in 2013-14 and 15-16.

Last year, however, was perceived as a step back after an 11-11 regular season in 2017-18.

“Last year was kind of a disappointment,” said sophomore Madilyn Boyer. “We made it to the playoffs, but we didn't finish very well. We're making a comeback this year and hopefully we can make a deep push into the playoffs.”

The key to Knoch's breakthrough season has been its versatility and resiliency.

Freshman point guard Nina Shaw has made a huge impact. Senior Abbey Shearer and Boyer can also handle the ball and junior Nevaeh Ewing has been an all-around threat.

Throw in Cihonski's presence inside and the Knights have been as dynamic as they come.

“I feel like we're a great all-around team because all five of us can shoot pretty well and we're all pretty good at handling the ball,” Boyer said. “And Lauren can finish.”

Cihonski certainly finished against Freeport Monday, scoring all 10 of her points in the second half, including the game-winner on a layup with three seconds left.

The basket, which culminated a double-digit comeback for the Knights against their rival, had Cihonski overwhelmed with emotion as her teammates danced to The Jackson 5's “I Want You Back” after the dramatic victory.

“It's just mindblowing knowing that we did that as a team and didn't get down,” Cihonski said.

Andreassi said Cihonski's night was a microcosm of the season for Knoch.

“You don't quit,” Andreassi said. “You keep going. You keep pushing forward and something good will happen.”

Good things have been happening for Boyer, who is averaging 17 points per game during the winning streak.

“She's on a tear,” Andreassi said.

Boyer and her teammates have taken advantage of the attention opponents have chose to heap onto Ewing, who was averaging 15.8 points per game during the first half of the season, but has seen that number drop to 10 since.

Not that Ewing minds all that much as long as the wins come, Andreassi said.

“I'm going to tell ya, you saw Nevaeh earlier in the year and she was pouring in the points,” Andreassi said. “Teams have made an effort to take her away and that just opens things up for Nina and Madilyn and Abbey to drive. Nevaeh has been awesome. Even though she hasn't been scoring, she's been sacrificing and still drawing people to her.”

That's what clicked after that Freeport loss, Boyer said.

The team decided that they had to play more like one to accomplish their goals.

“I feel like we just had to get it into our heads that we couldn't lose any more games and we needed to make a big run if we wanted to do something in the playoffs,” Boyer said. “We had to do it for one another.”