Can lightning strike twice?

In terms of athletics, it appears to be doing so at Knoch High School.

The Knights’ football team finished 1-9 in 2022. They rebounded to go 8-3 in 2023, narrowly missing out on the section title and qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs.

Now Knoch’s boys basketball team is experiencing a similar reversal — for much the same reason.

While the football team went through that 1-9 season, it did so while starting a lot of underclassmen, many of them sophomores, along with a couple of freshmen.

As those players matured, so did their performance.

The Knights finished 7-16 overall on the basketball court in 2022-23, qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs with a 5-5 section record.

That team won the right games to get into the postseason, but realistically, they were a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who got there ahead of schedule.

This season, this Knoch team is definitely for real.

Going into Saturday night’s scheduled game at Armstrong, the Knights are 11-3 overall, 4-1 in Section 1-4A play. They’ve won seven of their last eight games.

The lone loss during that stretch was a 51-49 decision on a buzzer-beater at Hampton. The Talbots lead the section with a 5-0 mark.

A section championship is still very much in the cards for Knoch. Hampton must come to the Knoch gym yet and the Knights have learned how to win close games.

They won a four-point decision at South Fayette and got past rival Highlands, 68-65, in overtime last Tuesday night. Knoch lost a lead in the second half of that gme, but rallied to win in the extra session.

Again, a sign of maturity.

Zane Pacek has developed into a productive big man around the basket. Jackson Bauman, Teegan Finucan, Derek Lang, Kaden Spencer, Zarian Finucan ... all of these guys are young players who are continuing to get better.

Playing underlassmen with the idea of laying the groundwork for a successful team is a good way to go in high school sports.

Knoch’s football team — and now basketball — are certainly proof of that.

Tomlin Staying

Put the rumors to bed — Mike Tomlin is sticking around as head coach of the Steelers.

Most of his critics believe this is a sentence to continued “NFL purgatory,” as the Steelers have seemingly won eight to 10 games each season for a while.

While that may be true, it doesn’t mean things can’t change.

The new offensive coordinator — whoever that may be — getting Kenny Pickett to turn the corner as a productive pro quarterback next season is far more important than who the head coach is.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle