JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch never did surrender the lead in the fourth quarter, but that belied the ferocity of the period.

Leading Highlands 51-39 after three quarters, the Knights withstood a tidal wave of offense from the Golden Rams to prevail, 74-69, in a boys basketball battle for sole possession of first place in the Section 1-4A standings.

“I knew a run was coming,” admitted Knoch coach Ron McNabb, “but we weathered the storm. Man, are they (Rams) a good team. They're fighters, but I'm proud of our guys for not shying away from the moment.”

Problems on the boards helped put victory in doubt for Knoch (8-1, 3-0). It saw an 11-point lead dwindle to 58-52 in the span of 35 seconds when Highlands tallied four offensive rebounds over two possessions, leading to a trey from Carter Leri and a bucket by Jimmy Kunst.

The Rams' 14-4 run culminated when Korry Myers drained a trey that cut the lead to 62-61 with 3:22 left.

Knoch's Jared Schrecengost, who finished with 24 points, scored four straight points before the Rams mounted another charge.

Two more 3-pointers from Myers made it 68-67 with 2:07 left. Scott Fraser sank a huge bucket for the Knights while Schrecengost and Ryan Lang both hit two free throws in the closing moments.

The result snapped the Rams' seven-game winning streak and extended the Knights' run to eight games.

“This was a big step for us. We showed what we can do,” said Schrecengost. “We just need to keep moving forward.”

The Rams (10-2, 2-1) entered the night averaging over 70 points per game, but stumbled through three quarters.

“We could have held them to less if we would have rebounded better,” said McNabb.

“We missed some shots and that's to be expected,” said Highlands coach Tyler Stoczynski. “We were on the road and in this atmosphere ... we got aggressive in the fourth quarter and started hitting some shots.”

Free throw shooting proved vital to the Knights, who sank 23 of 27 attempts, including a combined 16 of 18 from Lang and Schrecengost. The duo also teamed up for all seven of Knoch's 3-pointers in the game.

Lang scored a game-high 25 points and Fraser added 16.

“That was nice,” said McNabb. “Our guys passed up good shots for great shots. Make the extra pass, we stress it every day. If we can get balanced scoring like that, we're hard to beat.”

Luke Cochran and Johnny Crise, who both fouled out in the fourth quarter, paced Highlands with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Myers added 13.

“We're not taking anything more from this than it is,” said Stoczynski. “It's one game. We'll get back at it tomorrow.”

The teams will meet again Jan. 28 in Natrona Heights.

HIGHLANDS 69

Jimmy Kunst 4 1-2 9, Antoine McDaniel 1 0-0 2, Korry Myers 4 2-4 13, Carter Leri 1 0-0 3, Johnny Crise 7 2-2 16, Luke Cochran 3 10-17 18, Wahkeem Roman 3 2-2 8. Totals: 23 17-27 69.

KNOCH 74

Scott Fraser 7 2-3 16, Jared Schrecengost 7 7-8 24, Jake Scheidt 2 3-4 7, Ryan Lang 6 9-10 25, Adam Bajuszik 0 2-2 2, Brady McKee 0 0-0 0, Zach McMillen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 23-27 74.

Highlands 14 16 9 30 — 69

Knoch15 21 15 23 — 74

3-point goals: Highlands 6 (Myers 3, Cochran 2, Leri); Knoch 7 (Lang 4, Schrecengost 3)

Friday: Derry at Knoch