BUTLER TWP — Knoch turned the ball over 32 times. Jeannette missed 17 of 25 free throws.

The errant foul shots proved to be more costly Tuesday night as the Knights rallied for a 72-65 boys basketball win in overtime during the first round of the Butler Christmas Tournament.

"Foul shooting definitely played a major factor tonight," Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said.

Knoch (6-1) knocked the Jayhawks (5-1) from the unbeaten ranks despite losing senior forward Jake McTighe to an ankle injury in the game's first three minutes. The Knights fell behind 8-0 and turned the ball over seven times before scoring a point.

"Thirty-two turnovers," Andreassi repeated in disbelief. "Nobody's going to win very often with that statistic. This was a gutty performance by our kids."

The score was tied on five occasions and the lead changed hands nine times.

Jeannette had the night's biggest lead at 57-48 with 1:33 remaining in regulation, but sank only three of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"We didn't finish tonight," Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. "The missed free throws were a big reason why."

Knoch used a 10-1 run in the final 1:30 of regulation to force the extra session. A layup by Nathan Junk with eight seconds remaining knotted the game at 58. Jeannette failed to get off a good shot before time expired.

The Knights took the lead for good at 63-61 when Junk stuck back an offensive rebound with 2:22 left in overtime.

The outcome remained in doubt until Chris Cetnar canned two free throws with 14.7 seconds left, accounting for the final 72-65 count.

Jeannette had 24 turnovers. Despite the absence of McTighe, the Jayhawks were outrebounded 42-34.

"They outworked us for a lot of their points," Batts said.

Junk had 26 points and 20 rebounds to pace the Knights. Wirtz scored 19 points and Cetnar netted 15. Robert Zanella came off the bench to snare six rebounds.

"It was tough not having Jake's 15 points and 10 rebounds. That's what he consistently gives us," Andreassi said. "We needed Junk and Zanella to pick it up on the boards and they did that."

Brian Weightman led Jeannette with 18 points, including 16 in the second half and overtime. Chris Smith contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Toddy Harris had 13 points, including three treys.

While Jeannette struggled from the foul line, Knoch sank 23 of 30.

Now the Knights face unbeaten Butler in tonight's title game — and will do so without McTighe.

"He heard something pop in his ankle," Andreassi said. "Unless some miracle happens, there's no way he's playing (tonight)."

JEANNETTE 65Darius Brown 2-7 1-7 5, Toddy Harris 5-9 0-0 13, Chris Smith 5-10 3-6 13, Matt Shrum 1-4 1-2 3, Jordan Batts 3-7 0-1 6, Dezon Hall 0-1 0-1 0, Trent Errett 0-0 0-0 0, Demetrious Cox 3-8 1-4 7, Brian Weightman 8-15 2-4 18,

Totals: 27-60 8-25 65.

KNOCH 72Cory Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Schultheis 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Wirtz 6-15 5-6 19, Chris Cetnar 3-10 9-10 15, Adam Seger 1-1 0-1 2, Jake McTighe 0-2 0-0 0, Adam Tuzikow 0-0 0-0 0, Robert Zanella 1-4 0-0 2, Nathan Junk 10-15 6-9 26, Kevin Wood 2-4 3-4 8,

Totals: 23-53 23-30 72.

Jeannette 10 9 19 20 7—65Knoch 7 13 14 24 14—723-point goals: Jeannette 3 (Harris 3); Knoch 3 (Wirtz 2, Wood).

Junior varsity: Knoch, 53-47 (K: Mike Schenck 19, Ryan Schultheis 10)

Wednesday: Championship Game-Knoch vs. Butler, 7:30 p.m.; Consolation Game-Summit Academy vs. Jeannette, 6 p.m.