What was supposed to be a showdown for first place in the girls race for the South Central Conference, turned into a one-sided affair as Knoxville used strong defense and its usual up tempo offense to run the Big Reds out of the gym and secure sole possession of first place with a 67-45 win over Centerville, while the boys had their third straight come-from-behind win defeating Centerville 65-56 as heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The girls traded blows for the first five minutes of the game before Knoxville ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 19-11, that run turned into a 15-0 run and Knoxville was up by 16 midway through the second and the Panthers coasted from there. Coach Jim Uitermarkt told KRLS Sports while pleased with the win, he says his team still has some things to work on between now and Friday.

Uitermarkt:
“What I told the girls in the locker room afterwards is, the positive is that wasn’t our best game and we still won. We have some things we’re going to get into the gym and work on. The great thing about these girls is when we want to focus on something and work on it, they’re so coachable.”

Katie Keitges had 29 points and Maggie Wilkins scored 25 points to lead the Panthers. Knoxville is now 9-1 on the season and 5-0 in the South Central Conference. The boys meanwhile, started slowly again and it looked like as a carbon copy of Saturday’s struggle with Newton. But a quick start in the second half after being down 38-33 got the Panthers the lead three minutes into the third quarter and slowly got the lead up to 11 before settling for a nine point win 65-56. Kieren Nichols was his usual brilliant self with 32 points leading all scorers while Luke Keitges had a season and career high 12 points. Nichols told KRLS Sports he feels his job is not just to score, but get his teammates involved.

Nichols:
“I’m trying to get a couple young guys to step up like LUke to step up and guys who have never played a lot of minutes, and Alex can always finishing around the rim and Ben can get a few of his points. I’m just trying to distribute and if the ball is out of my hands then that’s alright.”

Knoxville improves to 8-1 on the season and 5-0 in the South Central Conference. Both Knoxville squads host Albia on Friday. The boys will have a showdown with the Demons for first place in the South Central Conference.