Knoch boys take care of business vs. Freeport, stay on top

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 15, 2019 | 11:36 PM

The Knoch boys basketball team has been on a roll since the middle of December, and it didn’t let up Tuesday against Section 1-4A rival Freeport.

The Knights, No. 5 in the Trib HSSN Class 4A rankings, won their ninth game in a row and maintained sole possession of the top spot in the section with an 82-59 rout of the Yellowjackets in front of an energetic home crowd.

“The schools are so close, and the rivalry’s so great. It was a big win for us,” said Knoch’s Scott Fraser, who led his team with 21 points.

Knoch (11-3, 5-0) is averaging 78.7 points over its past seven games. The run started with the season-best 89 it put up against Kiski Area in the first game of the Freeport tournament Dec. 27.

The closest margin of victory in the streak was an eight-point nonsection win over Deer Lakes on Jan. 5, and the Knights also topped Highlands by 15 in a section game last week.

“Knoch is a really good team,” Freeport coach Wayne Greiser said. “They’re ranked for a reason. They’re firing on all cylinders. In the preseason, I thought they were the best team in the section. They proved that tonight and against Highlands.”

Freeport and Knoch played for the first time since the 2015-16 regular-season finale. The teams were in different sections the past two years.

“Both student sections were really yelling and getting into it,” Fraser said. “It felt great. There was just a lot of energy.”

A layup from Freeport’s Jalen Brown early in the second quarter pulled the visitors to within one at 14-13.

That’s when Knoch took control. A 20-0 run over the span of six minutes broke the game wide open.

A Jake Scheidt 3-pointer got it all started, and it ended with a layup from Jared Schrecengost to give the Knights a 34-13 lead.

Brown ended the Yellowjackets’ drought with a layup at the 1-minute, 53-second mark, but buckets from Scheidt and Julian Sanks in the waning moments of the half put the Knights up 39-15 at the break.

“In the first quarter, we got beat on the boards a little bit, and we talked about guarding a little better, contesting shots a little more and hitting the boards,” Knoch coach Ron McNabb said. “We did a good job of limiting them to one shot. We like to play an up-tempo game, and I think Jake Scheidt did a good job of pushing the ball and getting us easy shots.”

Knoch’s quickness and moves to the basket also generated several Freeport fouls. The Knights took advantage by hitting 7 of 11 from the line during the run.

“The tempo changed (in the second quarter),” Greiser said. “We played to our game plan in the first quarter by controlling the tempo, making those easy shots and getting to the rim. Then we weren’t finishing or were turning the ball over, which led to odd-man breakouts and easy buckets for them.”

While the lead seemed to be comfortable heading to the second half, McNabb made sure his team stayed focused in the third and fourth quarters.

“We told them they couldn’t relax at all,” McNabb said. “Freeport has a lot of quickness and a lot of good shooters. We had to hunker down, guard them and make them work. We went to a zone just to mix things up a little bit. Even though Jalen Brown had 20 or so points, I think Scotty made him work pretty hard tonight.”

Brown finished with 22 points, and he was the lone Yellowjacket player to reach double figures in scoring. Freeport outscored Knoch by one in the second half.

“We challenged the guys at halftime,” Greiser said. “We play them again, so we wanted to set a tone and let them know we’re going to battle.”

Knoch landed four players in double figures. In addition to Fraser’s big game, Scheidt finished with 18 points, Schrecengost tallied 12 and Sanks scored 10.

Sixth man Ryan Lang ended the game with nine points.

Knoch took 22 3-point shots and connected on seven.

The student sections didn’t agree on much for most of the game, but they came together in their excitement and support for Freeport reserve Bradyn Clark.

Clark, a former student in the Knoch school system, entered the game with a couple of minutes left and nailed two 3-pointers. When both shots went in, the student sections went wild, and the smile on Clark’s face was a mile wide.

He finished with seven points.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-388-5825, mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Freeport