JEFFERSON TWP — Marc Vaughan can hardly recognize the Knoch boys basketball team this season.

Last year as a junior, Vaughan was a sixth man on a Knights’ team that was content to run a methodical and slow half-court offense.

Scores were low and so was Vaughan’s impact and confidence.

All that has changed this season for the 6-foot-3 senior forward under first-year coach Ron McNabb. Vaughan is one of the top scoring options on an offense that has become fast-paced and exciting.

“I’m really happy I get the chance to be a go-to player,” Vaughan said. “I’m trying to live up to it the best I can.

“Last year, we were scared to run because we didn’t want to get pulled out,” Vaughan added. “Now, we can run the floor at any time. It really boosts your confidence when you are scoring points off easy lay-ups.”

Behind the inside presence of Vaughan, senior Dakota Bruggeman and sophomore Matt Zanella and the outside shooting touch of guards Austin Miller and David Gallagher, Knoch has seen a spike in its scoring — and success — this season.

The Knights finished the 2011-12 campaign at 10-13 while averaging 50 points per game. This season, the team is putting up 60 points per outing and is 7-4 overall heading into a stretch of section games.

Knoch is averaging nearly 70 points in its last four games — all lopsided victories.

“We’re starting to get the offense down,” Gallagher said.

McNabb got the job in mid-July shortly after Josh Shoop left the school for the athletic director position at Pine-Richland.

It has taken some time for the Knights to grasp the new up-tempo philosophy.

“They’re still getting to know us and we’re still getting to know them,” McNabb said. “It’s a whole new system. It’s a learning process every single day.”

The key has been how well the players have meshed their skills.

Vaughan, who is averaging 12.3 points per game, has had dominant stretches in the post this season.

“Geez, offensively, he has a great variety of moves down underneath,” McNabb said. “You put someone big on him, he’s quick enough to get by them. You put someone smaller on him, he’s strong enough to go straight through them.”

Vaughan has taken the 6-4 Zanella, who is averaging 10.5 points per game, under his wing.

“I’ve been working with him a good bit,” Vaughan said. “The big thing I like is how physical he plays. Good post players are physical.”

McNabb has expanded Zanella’s role more and more as the season has progressed.

“Z just has a knack for scoring,” McNabb said. “For a sophomore, he has a bright future ahead of him, and he’s a kid who will put the time in for us.”

The inside game has helped the outside as well.

Miller is pouring in 12.4 points per contest and has hit 23 3-pointers this season,

Gallagher is coming off a career high 21 points against Highlands and has drained 26 3-pointers.

“If we’re shooting well inside, they have to collapse on us,” Vaughan said. “So, if those guys are hitting from the outside, we’re hard to stop.”

As well as Knoch has played as of late, the schedule ahead is brutal with section games against Valley, Mars, Freeport and Kittanning in the next two weeks.

“We have to stay consistent to stay on the roll we’ve been on,” Gallagher said. “We have to stay up-tempo, unselfish and play as a team.”