HAMPTON TWP — Knoch coach Chris Andreassi didn't want Hampton to pick up the pace in Tuesday's Section 1-AAA boys basketball game.

He got his wish — at least in the first half.

Trailing 26-20 at the break, the Talbots came out on fire, scoring the first seven points and netting 18-of-23 shots before cruising to a 68-38 victory over the Knights.

"I think Hampton got more good looks and more offensive rebounds," Andreassi said. "It's tough with a team that good. The game can get away from you.

"It's OK if you're down by 10 or single digits, But once they got into double digits, they were able to speed the game up, and that's not in our favor," the coach added.

"The difference in the game was we played up-tempo in the second half," said Talbots coach Joe Lafko. "We were able to create turnovers with pressure and were able to open up the game."

Knoch trailed 24-14 late in the first half before using a 6-2 run on a 3-pointer by Chris Cetnar and a three-point play by Robert Zanella to trim the deficit to six points.

"I give Knoch a lot of credit," Lafko said. "They battled hard and are a real physical team."

Hampton (8-1, 3-0) responded by using a basket and two free throws by Todd Brown, a score by Tim Donegan and another free throw from Brown to take a 33-20 lead with 4:03 left in the third quarter.

Cetnar drained his second trey of the game to pull the Knights (6-3, 1-1) back to 10 points, but a 21-2 rush by Hampton, which included 3-pointers by Nate Winek, Bill Luther and Keith Weinheimer, opened a 29-point advantage with 5:50 remaining.

"Some of our young guys, like Keith Weinheimer and Brian Steele, came in for guys like Donegan, Chris Dill, Winek and Todd Brown, and showed what they can do," Lafko said.

"They gave us a spurt and offered offense from the defensive positions," he added.

Jake McTighe, who's been out with a high ankle sprain since the first game of the Butler Christmas Tournament, didn't play. Andreassi said McTighe was day-to-day.

"That was my decision. He was cleared to play, but you have to look at the big picture. We could have him for one section game or he could miss three or four games. That was my concern.

Donegan and Brown each scored 16 points, and Luther had 15 for the Talbots.

Knoch received nine points from Andrew Wirtz and eight points from Zanella.

KNOCH 38Nathan Junk 3 0-0 6, Corey Miller 0 0-0 0, Andrew Wirtz 3 0-0 9, Kevin Wood 0 0-0 0, Robert Zanella 3 2-4 8, Chris Cetnar 2 0-0 6, Micah Lio 1 0-0 2, Jake Hickey 1 2-2 5, Ryan Schultheis 1 0-1 2, Adam Seger 0 0-0 0, Adam Tuzikow 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14 4-8 38.

HAMPTON 68Bill Luther 5 4-5 15, Nate Winek 2 0-0 5, Chris Dill 1 0-0 2, Tim Donegan 8 0-0 16, Todd Brown 7 2-4 16, Keith Weinheimer 1 0-0 3, David Klodowski 0 0-0 0, Alex Schneider 0 2-2 2, Nathanael Sayles 1 0-0 2, Cory Callan 0 1-2 1, Brian Steele 2 1-2 6, Mark Pilarski 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 27 10-17 68.

Knoch 11 9 5 13—38Hampton 17 9 18 24—683-point goals: Knoch 6 (Wirtz 3, Cetnar 2, Hickey); Hampton 4 (Weinheimer, Luther, Winek, Steele).

JV: Hampton, 40-36

Friday: Deer Lakes at Knoch