JEFFERSON TWP — It looked as though Knoch's boys basketball team had the game in hand — until Freeport tried to take it back.

The Knights saw a 25-point lead late in the third quarter sliced to nine with 2:52 remaining in the game, but they held off the charge with a 65-49 non-section victory over the Yellowjackets Tuesday.

"There's no quit in Freeport. It's not in their vocabulary," said Knoch coach Les Shoop. "They could have easily folded their tents.

"I think we thought it was over and they didn't have to play defense," Shoop added.

"I'm real proud of the positive attitude we have," said Freeport coach Mike Beale. "We never gave up. We cut it to nine and that motivates me as a coach.

"(Knoch) is a playoff team. This is a powerhouse team. It's one of the best defenses we'll see," Beale added.

The Knights (2-1) jumped out to an 11-2 lead and led 18-5 with 49 seconds left in the first quarter and opened a 27-11 lead — with 10 points from Scott Muska — with 3:43 left until halftime.

"We like to get out and get going," said Shoop. "We like to get after you and limit them to one shot."

Leading 31-17 early in the third quarter, Knoch seemingly took control by going on a 13-2 spurt — including nine points from Bill Elliott, including the final seven — to take a 44-10 lead with 2:21 left in the quarter.

Freeport, fresh off winning the Springdale Tip-Off Tournament last weekend, slowly crept back into the game.

Trailing by 21 points, 50-29, Cory Massart drained a 3-pointer and a basket on consecutive possessions — his third score in a row — to make it 50-34 with six minutes left.

After a free throw by the Knights' Jordan Shoop, the Yellowjackets scored 13 of the next 18 points, thanks to the touch of Sean Mientus.

Mientus came off the bench to nail three treys on three successive Freeport possessions and helped pull the squad to 56-47 with 2:52 remaining.

"They tried to penetrate and pitch," said Shoop.

Freeport, however, could pull no closer as the Knights converted seven of 10 free throws over the next 2-plus minutes to ice the game.

"There's sure a lot to build on," said Beale. "After a sluggish start, you can't turn over that many possessions. If you turn over too much, (teams) will make you pay."

Notes:

Sophomore Rob Briggs led the Knights with 17 points, while Muska, Shoop and Elliott each tallied 13. Freeport got 14 from Nate Kotecki, 10 from Brady Sherrieb and nine apiece from Mientus and Nick Rutkoski.

FREEPORT 49

Nate Kotecki 6 2-3 14, Cory Massart 3 0-0 7, A.J. Vidra 0 0-0 0, Nick Rutkoski 3 3-4 9, Brady Sherrieb 4 2-2 10, Jordan Frantz 0 0-0 0, Sean Mientus 3 0-0 9. Totals: 19 7-9 49.

KNOCH 65

Scott Muska 5 0-0 13, Jordan Shoop 5 3-9 13, Bill Elliott 5 3-4 13, Rob Briggs 5 6-6 17, Alex Whisler 1 1-2 3, D'Ante Natili 1 2-2 4, Paul Hancheck 0 0-0 0, Justin Thompson 0 0-0 0, Joel Berger 0 0-0 0, Logan Baker 1 0-0 2, Ben Hutterer 0 0-0 0, Takanori Koroki 0 0-0 0, Dan Pickard 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 15-23 65.

3-point goals:

Mientus 3, Massart; Muska 3, Briggs

JV: Knoch, 60-20

Friday:

Freeport at Kittanning

Monday:

St. Joseph at Knoch