JEFFERSON TWP — The Knoch boys basketball team has picked up a habit over the last year, but it's one head coach Josh Shoop has no problem with.

The host Knights nipped rival Mars 68-66 Tuesday night. It is Knoch's third straight win in the series by two points.

The Knights won both meetings last season by scores of 52-50 and 57-55.

Tuesday's result ties Mars and Knoch for second place in Section 1-AAA with 5-2 records.

“Mars is a very good team and extremely well coached,” said Shoop. “This was a huge game.”

Mars' Garrett Ashbaugh drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut Knoch's edge to 66-64 with 13 seconds left.

Knoch's Tavita Lio and Austin Miller both made 1-of-2 free throws, sandwiched around a pair of makes from Mars' Owen Nearhoof, which resulted in a two-point lead for the Knights.

Following Miller's trip to the free-throw line with 5.7 seconds left, Mars had a chance to tie or win the game, but the Planets were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.

“There's a lot of things we could've done better,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “In reality, the game is decided by what happens over the course of 32 minutes.

“Tonight, we decided to play for about eight minutes,” he added.

For the Knights, the victory was the team's fourth straight section triumph.

“Every possession is important and we're starting to grasp that,” said Shoop. “We held our composure late. Our kids knew who to get the ball to and who should be shooting free throws.

“It could have went the other way and I'm proud of the effort.”

The Knights (6-8 overall) held a 42-30 lead at halftime, but managed just a pair of field goals and seven points in the third quarter.

Nearhoof led Mars' fourth-quarter charge with 13 points in the period. His 2-point basket with 39 seconds left cut Knoch's lead to 63-61.

That's when a key sequence went in the Knights' favor.

The Knights' Jack Boros made one free throw, but missed the second with 31 seconds left. His teammate, Marc Vaughan, fought for the rebound, made a basket and was fouled in the process.

Though Vaughan missed the ensuing free throw, his effort made it a two-possession game at 66-61 with 28 seconds to go.

“You have to win those battles,” said Carmody. “We get that rebound, we're only down by three and we had been knocking down some 3-pointers. We had the momentum.”

Knoch entered the contest averaging just over 48 points per game, but exploded with 25 points in the second quarter alone.

Vaughan led the way, scoring 12 of his team-leading 18 points in the quarter.

“We're more confident offensively at home, no doubt,” said Shoop. “We were really attacking the glass in the first half.”

“They broke our press fairly easily and knocked shots down, that's a credit to them,” said Carmody of the Knights.

Austin Miller added 16 points for Knoch and Lio scored 14.

Nearhoof's 22 points paced Mars (9-4 overall), Mitch Buzard had 12 and Matt Getsy 10.

MARS 66Josh Goetz 4 0-2 8, Mitch Buzard 4 1-3 12, Matt Getsy 5 0-1 10, Owen Nearhoof 8 4-4 22, Garrett Ashbaugh 2 1-2 6, Alex Locher 1 0-0 2, Zach May 2 1-2 6.

Totals: 26 7-14 66.

KNOCH 68Austin Miller 5 4-6 16, Jack Boros 3 2-4 8, Dakota Bruggeman 3 0-0 6, Tavita Lio 6 1-2 14, Marc Vaughan 6 6-7 18, Mike Schenck 3 0-0 6, Alex Strezeski 0 0-1 0, Andy Tuzikow 0 0-0 0, Phil Kletzli 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 26 13-20 68.

Mars 12 18 14 22—66Knoch 17 25 7 19—683-point goals: Mars 7 (Buzard 3, Nearhoof 2, Ashbaugh, May); Knoch 3 (Miller 2, Lio).

Friday: Knoch at Kittanning; Valley at Mars