BUFFALO TWP — Things were not going Jalen Brown's way for much of the night.

Until the very end.

Brown, the senior point guard on the Freeport boys basketball team and unquestioned go-to guy, drove the length of the floor, penetrated the lane and banked in a running layup with five seconds left to give the Yellowjackets a 63-62 win over Kiski Area at the Freeport Christmas Tournament Friday night.

Before his heroics, Brown was struggling from the floor and at the line.

“Put the ball in the hoop,” Brown said. “Honestly, I had no thoughts of passing the ball. I got it, put my head down and went to the hoop and scored.”

Brown was just 3-of-14 from the field and 2-of-10 from the free throw line before he got the ball with the Yellowjackets down by one with 10 seconds remaining.

“Just trust yourself, honestly,” Brown said when asked how he put his struggles behind him. “Just know you can do it. If your shots aren't falling, just keep doing what you're doing.”

Brown has been a burgeoning star for Freeport for the past two seasons.

Now a senior, there is a lot on his plate.

Freeport coach Wayne Greiser was pleased by the way Brown handled his adversity Friday.

“Jalen knows if he can get by the guy and get to the rim, he can do it,” Greiser said. “He took advantage of what they were giving us, saw the opening and took the layup.

“He may have struggled offensively tonight,” Greiser added, “but defensively, he got his hand on a lot of balls and played well.”

Freeport (6-2) needed Brown's late-game hoop after it squandered a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Kiski used a 16-2 run to draw even and led 61-58 with 54 seconds remaining.

But the Yellowjackets played the late-game situations perfectly and put the ball in their playmaker's hands on the final offensive possession.

“I thought we used our timeouts well,” Greiser said. “And the guys listened. They performed everything we asked of them in those situations.”

Aiden Skradski gave Freeport a boost early with three of his six 3-pointers coming in the first quarter. He finished with 20.

Freshman Vinnie Clark provided a spark in the second half, burying an awkward 3-pointer from the corner of the sideline and baseline at the third-quarter buzzer and then hit two more 3s early in the fourth quarter to help the Yellowjackets to a double-digit lead.

But Kiski (2-8) showed its own resolve in launching its comeback.

Freeport, though, showed its own resiliency.

“That's a great a experience,” Greiser said. “They didn't sulk and put their heads down. We have a lot of new guys out there in different roles and you can't practice those kinds of situations.”

Knoch 79, Eden Christian 38

A night after scoring 89 points in a rout of Kiski, the Knights were at it again.

Knoch put up 50 points in the first half, had four players in double digits — and nearly a fifth — and rolled past Eden Christian (4-4).

The Knights put up 168 points and hit 23 3-pointers in the two-day Freeport Christmas Tournament.

“We lost a couple early in the year and we didn't shoot the ball well and we didn't play well and I didn't think we competed as well as we should,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb. “But we knew with all the youth we had, it was going to take time. When we come out and shoot like that, it makes things a lot easier.”

It's a far cry from the season-opener in which Knoch scored a mere 32 points against Armstrong, or the bad night against Steel Valley in which the Knights mustered just 34.

Now, Knoch is flirting with those point totals early in the second quarter.

“Distant memories,” McNabb said. “I was just telling the guys that. It wasn't too long ago on a Friday night when we had just 32 points against Armstrong. These guys put it out of their mind. There's a looseness about them and I don't want those guys to play tight. You can't have a shooter who misses a shot and is looking at me. They have to keep shooting.”

And the Knights certainly are.

Knoch was 9-of-16 from 3-point range in the first half as it built a 50-18 lead.

On this night it was Jared Schrecengost lighting the nets on fire with four 3-pointers and game-high 16 points.

“It's confidence,” McNabb said. “He hadn't been shooting well and you could see he was getting a little down because he puts so much effort into this. I was really happy for him, thrilled for him, because he needed that. And it's not a surprise. He averaged 12 for us last year.”

Julian Sanks also had four more 3-pointers and scored 14. Scott Fraser also scored 14 and Brady McKee 10 for Knoch.

Freshman Ryan Lang nearly joined those four to double figures with nine.

Now Knoch (6-3) has a week off and hopes it doesn't cool down.

“There's some things we have to fix up and we'll rest a little bit,” McNabb said. “Playing two nights in a row was a little rough.”

Notes: Brown was named tournament MVP. Clark also made the all-tournament team for Freeport. ... Sanks and Fraser were named to the all-tourney team for the Knights.

EDEN CHRISTIAN 38

Gideon Manges 3-11 1-2 7, Warren Schooter 1-3 0-0 2, Eric Gronbeck 2-4 0-0 5, Drew Lipinski 2-3 0-0 4, Andrew Penrod 4-7 2-2 10, Markus Williams 1-5 1-2 3, Ryan Aiken 2-2 0-1 4, Brandon Greenburg 0-0 2-2 2, Alex Cook 0-1 1-2 1, Eli Gross 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-37 7-11 38.

KNOCH 79

Julian Sanks 5-11 0-0 14, Jared Schrecengost 6-8 0-0 16, Scott Fraser 5-10 2-2 14, Jake Scheidt 1-3 0-0 2, Brady McKee 5-6 3-4 10, Cole Lassinger 1-4 1-2 3, Ryan Lang 3-8 1-2 9, Adam Bajuszik 1-2 0-0 2, Blaze Voltz 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Buterbaugh 0-1 0-0 0, Zack McMillen 2-2 0-0 4, Cole Green 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-57 7-10 79.

Eden Christian 10 8 12 8 — 38

Knoch23 27 22 7 — 79

3-point goals: Eden Christian 1 (Gronbeck); Knoch 12 (Sanks 4, Schrecengost 4, Fraser 2, Lang 2)

Jan. 4: Yough at Knoch

KISKI 62

Ryne Wallace 1-6 2-3 4, Nick Smith 2-6 4-6 8, Max Heinle 1-4 0-0 2, Kyrell Hutcherson 1-8 2-4 4, Jason Baker 8-10 4-5 20, Logan McGarry 4-8 3-4 11, Joe Lucas 1-2 0-0 3, Jack Colecchi 4-7 2-3 10. Totals: 22-51 17-25 62.

FREEPORT 63

Vinnie Clark 8-13 3-3 22, Jalen Brown 4-15 2-10 10, Garret Schaffhauser 1-8 2-4 5, Aiden Skradski 7-13 0-0 20, Nolan Plocki 2-9 1-3 5, Jason Kijowski 0-1 0-0 0, Christian Waronsky 0-0 1-2 1, Matt Aulicino 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-60 9-22 63.

Kiski 13 11 14 24 — 62

Freeport12 16 19 16 — 63

3-point goals: Kiski 1 (Lucas); Freeport 10 (Clark 3, Schaffhauser 1, Skradski 6)

Friday: Freeport at Highlands