JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch coach Rob Greenleaf knows all about Franklin Regional senior center Jennifer Martin.

He thought he knew how to stop her. But the Knights didn't.

The 5-foot-10 Martin scored 17 points and snared seven rebounds in leading the Panthers to a 41-37 girls basketball win Saturday night at Knoch.

"They had no answer for her," Franklin Regional coach Rick Klimschock said.

Greenleaf was Martin's coach at Franklin Regional last year, but the Panthers spoiled his reunion with his former team.

"Jen is an outstanding player, but I thought we were prepared for her," Greenleaf said. "We had a plan in place to control her inside. Obviously, that plan didn't work.

"It was a little strange at first (coaching against the Panthers), but once the opening tip was in the air, it became just another game."

While the Knights (5-8, 2-4) had trouble controlling Franklin Regional inside, the Panthers had their own problems containing Knoch's outside game.

The Knights canned seven 3-pointers in the contest, including five by senior guard Haley Hutterer.

"That girl was on fire. She couldn't miss," Klimschock said.

Greenleaf wished Hutterer could have taken more shots. She attempted only nine the entire game.

"When a player is that hot, we need to find ways to get her the ball in position to score. We didn't do that," he said.

Knoch never led Saturday, but stuck around all night. Franklin Regional (5-8, 4-3) never had a double-digit lead.

The Panthers' Ali Obradovich missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:15 to play and her team leading 37-31. Hannah Novotny canned a 3-pointer at the other end to trim the gap to three.

Franklin Regional held a 40-34 lead when Obradovich missed two more free throws with 19.4 seconds on the clock. Emily Protzman then completed a three-point play for Knoch with 11.9 seconds left.

Meghan Riley, a 5-foot-4 junior, sank the second of two free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining to finally ice the game for the Panthers and snap Knoch's three-game winning streak.

"Meghan has been clutch at the line," Klimschock said. "She hit a free throw in the final seconds to beat Hampton recently."

Kasey Seigle contributed seven of 26 Franklin Regional rebounds. Both teams had 16 turnovers.

Hutterer paced the Knights with 16 points. Novotny added nine points and had six of 23 Knoch rebounds.

The loss leaves Knoch a game and a half away from a playoff spot in Section 1-AAA.

"We'd like to be 3-3 in section right now, but it's still too early to be talking about the playoffs," Greenleaf said. "We've been playing good defense and our shooting is improving.

"We need to put together a good second half (in section play).

Knoch travels to Kittanning — which is tied with Highlands and Franklin Regional at 4-3 in the section — tonight.

FRANKLIN REGIONAL 41Ali Obradovich 0-2 0-3 0, Kasey Seigle 3-5 0-0 7, Jennifer Martin 6-8 5-6 17, Natalie Alexander 1-8 3-4 5, Monica Drutch 1-2 3-4 5, Stephanie Vendemia 1-1 0-0 2, Meghan Riley 0-0 1-2 1, Hanna Wagner 1-4 2-2 4, Kristen Gallagher 0-1 0-2 0.

Totals: 13-31 14-23 41.

KNOCH 37Emily Protzman 3-7 1-3 7, Hannah Novotny 3-7 2-2 9, Haley Hutterer 5-9 1-2 16, Taylor Zonts 1-7 0-0 2, Taylor Tresatti 1-11 0-0 3, Samantha Logan 0-0 0-0 0, Julia Kleinfelder 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 13-42 4-7 37.

Franklin Regional 14 5 13 9—41Knoch 9 9 7 12—373-point goals: Franklin Regional 1 (Seigle); Knoch 7 (Novotny, Hutterer 5, Tresatti).

Monday: Knoch at Kittanning