Here's some helpful advice: don't challenge Dusty Ziacik to a game of H-O-R-S-E.

Whether banking in shots from the corner or arching the basketball perfectly over the backboard and through the hoop from behind it, Ziacik is a menace at the game.

When it comes to more traditional shots, mainly from behind the 3-point arc, Ziacik is just as menacing for the Knoch boys basketball team.

"He's a textbook shooter," said Knights' coach Les Shoop. "I think being a senior has made him more confident."

So does making those shots - and Ziacik has made a bunch.

Of his 71 field goals this season, 60 have been 3-pointers. That's 180 points from long range alone, or 10.6 points per game.

The 6-foot-1 Ziacik isn't shy about heaving them up, either. He never really was.

But for a brief time he was a post player.

"When I was little, I shot a lot of 3s, then in 10th grade (on the junior varsity team) I played some post."

It didn't take long for him to find a comfort zone on the perimeter.

And it doesn't matter if someone is in his face or he is all alone out there. Ziacik has shown knack of burying a 3-pointer over a foe.

"I feel I'm better when there is someone in my face," Ziacik said. "I think I can jump pretty well and can put the ball over their hand."

Helping him with his long distance barrage is Ryan Hollihan, a 6-foot-7 senior center who demands Shaq-like attention from teams on the inside.

Hollihan is averaging 14.9 points and more than 10 rebounds per game for the 13-4 Knights.

"He's a force inside," said Shoop. "He's a dynamic big man, a dominating big man. When people double down on him, he can pass it to the perimeter."

And it usually falls into the hands of Ziacik.

In turn, Ziacik's prowess from the outside has helped Hollihan inside.

With a threat like that roaming the 3-point line, teams sometimes have to cheat away from the post.That leaves Hollihan poised to make a post move."(Ziacik) is a great passer to the post," Hollihan said. "He's not just a shooter first. I think that keeps the other team off guard a little bit. They can't double both of us."Hollihan emerged as a force on the inside in last year's postseason, when Knoch marched all the way to the Class AAA WPIAL Finals, leaving favored teams in their wake.Hollihan was a big reason Knoch turned a forgettable 6-8 season into one to remember."I think last year in the playoffs we started playing as a team," Hollihan said. "I became more aggressive. You have to be aggressive in the playoffs because everyone else around you is."That aggressiveness has carried over to this season - Hollihan has the bumps and bruises to prove it."After every game, I feel it," he said. "After every game, I find a new bruise that wasn't there before."If Knoch is to make a return engagement to the WPIAL finals, both Ziacik and Hollihan must keep on rolling.Last year, Ziacik went through a slump and stopped shooting."He lost confidence in his shot," Shoop said.But like Hollihan, Ziacik found his form in the postseason and has carried that over to this season, as he is leading the county in 3-point bombs by 16.Ziacik said there should be no let up, as long as the offense is clicking like it should.But that is getting a bit harder. Both Ziacik and Hollihan are well-known commodities now, but both stress there is more to the Knights than them.There is also Jordan Shoop, who is averaging 15.8 points per game and a 3-point threat in his own right. There is also Scott Muska and Eric Czech, who is undersized but plays super-sized."It's getting tougher, especially against teams in our section," said Ziacik, whose team is 7-1 and in first place by a game in Section 1-AAA. "But (Jordan) Shoop can knock it down and Muska can hit an open shot. We have a lot of weapons. Teams are challenging me now."Just don't challenge Ziacik in H-O-R-S-E."Yeah," Ziacik says, grinning. "Those behind-the-backboard shots will get ya."