JEFFERSON TWP — Jake Scheidt remembers vividly the struggles of the Knoch boys basketball team's 2017-18 season.

Then a sophomore guard for the Knights, Scheidt and his teammates endured a 7-14 season that included a 1-11 section record.

Knoch was an inexperienced team with many underclassmen.

“We were in a very tough (Class 5A) section and were playing teams like Mars, Montour and Chartiers Valley,” he said. “The other sophomores and I had been playing together since the eighth grade. Knowing that we had put so much time in together and things just seemed to be going downhill for us, it was pretty frustrating.”

That experience keeps Scheidt from taking for granted the current season, one that has the Knights sporting an overall record of 17-2. They are in a first-place tie in Section 1-4A with Highlands, both teams sitting at 8-1.

The Knights' dramatic turnaround actually began last season when they went 18-6, tied Highlands for the section crown and reached the WPIAL quarterfinals.

“We know what it takes to be a good team,” said Scheidt. “We don't take any days off in practice and know that we always have to bring our “A” game.”

Knoch returned four starters from last year's team, including Scheidt, Brady McKee, Jared Schrecengost and Scott Fraser. The last two were also starters on that young team two years ago.

“It's so much easier now coming to practice every day,” Fraser said of the program's reversal of fortune. “Coach (Ron) McNabb wants the best for us. He keeps us all together and playing hard.”

Sophomore guard Ryan Lang, last year's sixth man, has moved into a starting role and currently leads the Knights with 17.6 points per game.

“We got a lot of good work in over the summer, took part in some very competitive tournaments,” said McNabb. “So we had high hopes coming into the season, but we didn't want to be overconfident. We didn't want to enter games thinking that teams were just going to roll over.”

Most of Knoch's opponents have succumbed to the team's fast-paced style of play. The Knights are averaging 74 points per game, best in all of WPIAL Class 4A, and have won 10 games by 20 points or more.

Outside shooting has been vital to Knoch's scoring prowess. Lang leads the way with 57 treys, but the entire starting lineup is capable of making them.

“The up-tempo style has been very good to us,” said McNabb, “but there have been times when we have been forced to grind it out. We work on our half-court offense every single day and I think we've been effective whatever style we have to play.”

What makes the Knights even more difficult to contain is that their scoring is spread out.

Behind Lang, Fraser is averaging 16.9 points, Schrecengost is at 13.9 and Scheidt is contributing 10.4 per game. McKee, a forward, comes in at 6.4, but has reached double figures in several games this season.

Senior Adam Bajuszik is the team's top player off the bench and has drained 19 treys, but his contributions to the lineup go far beyond his shooting ability.

“We can put Adam in for any of our five starters,” said McNabb. “He sees a lot of minutes and that's a credit to him.

“Zach McMillen (center) has gotten so much better since day one and Keagan Fraser and Tyler Buterbaugh are becoming more comfortable in our system. Our bench is extremely important for us.”

Fraser leads Knoch with 7.4 rebounds per game. It's an area of his team's play McNabb hopes will improve with the WPIAL playoffs just two weeks away.

“We need to become more physical with our box-outs and we have to rebound better,” he said. “We're giving up a few more points per game than I would like. The flip side to that is, by playing a faster game, that means more possessions (for opposing teams).”

Knoch and Highlands split their two meetings this season, both winning at home. The Knights won 74-69 in early January and the Golden Rams avenged that defeat with a 72-65 victory last Tuesday.

The latter result snapped the Knights' 16-game winning streak, the longest achieved by the program since Knoch enjoyed a 21-2 regular season in 2002-03.

A potential third meeting in the district playoffs would seem fitting. Either way, Knoch and Highlands are most certainly better teams for having played each other.

“We got that playoff atmosphere in the regular season,” said Scheidt. “Playing a top contender will help us in the long-run.”

Though the Knights have the talent to play deep into February and beyond, the team maintains a short-term focus.

“We very rarely talk about wins and losses,” said McNabb. “We tell the kids that if they work as hard as they can in these two-hour practices, everything else will take care of itself.

“We've had two average practices all season and the rest have been really good. I'm very happy with where we are.”