JEFFERSON TWP — Austin Hannes had a time bomb ticking away in his right knee.

In January, it went off.

Hannes, now a junior point guard for the Knoch boys basketball team, had problems with that knee since the seventh grade.

His patella sat awkwardly on top of the joint and he was warned it could cause problems.

On Jan. 9, about 15 seconds into a game against Mars, his knee blew out.

“I had a slight groove in my knee and the kneecap sat weird and shallow,” Hannes said. “The game before, I dislocated it a little bit and then, it just went.”

Hannes tore his medial patellofemoral ligament — the ligament that holds the kneecap in place. The shear force of the tear also fractured his tibia.

He had surgery to repair the damage and the surgeon gave him a clean bill of health.

“I shouldn’t have a problem again,” Hannes said. “It feel 100 times better than it did before. I feel like nothing ever happened.”

Hannes had trouble dealing with the injury and the fact he couldn’t be on the court over the final month of the season to help his team during a run to the WPIAL playoffs.

Knoch won a preliminary-round WPIAL playoff game, but bowed out in the first round last season.

“At first, I couldn’t even get myself to go to the games, so I just listened on the radio a little bit here and there,” Hannes said. “Then, I just finally went and enjoyed watching them play and clicking and making the playoffs.”

Hannes, though, used his time off the court healing well.

He studied the game from a new perspective and focused on the areas he was lacking.

“Defensively it helped me because by watching from the bench, I could see where I needed to be on defense,” Hannes said. “I was bad on defense last season, one of the worst defensive players on the team. I feel like I’m playing 100 times better on defense this season.”

But Hannes, who was cleared to resume basketball activities in July, is still not in the form he was last season when he was one of the most dangerous point guards in Section 1-AAA.

Knoch coach Ron McNabb said that will come in time.

“He’s not where he’s going to be in a month,” McNabb said. “He hasn’t played in almost a year. Not even an NBA guy can do that. But every day, he’s getting better and more confident in his knee.”

Hannes felt much better Tuesday against Indiana at home after two rough games at the Plum Tournament to start the season.

Hannes showed off the quickness that made him so dangerous, slashing through the lane and weaving his way through the Indians defense to find open teammates.

He also chipped in 13 points in the win over Indiana.

“A lot of rust,” Hannes said. “The first two games, nothing clicked. It’s finally starting to click now, but I have a lot of work to do.

“It’s all getting better,” Hannes added. “We’re getting better in practice. Everyone is working hard and I think it’s going to be a fun season. We’re going to surprise some people.”