With all of the impressive offensive numbers that the Knoxville Girls Basketball Squad generated last season, the Panthers’ defense may have been even more impressive. Knoxville allowed just 39.7 points per game last season, allowing 40 or more points just seven times in 23 games. Coach Jim Uitermarkt tells KRLS Sports his team’s goal is to keep the opponents score low and thinks his defense will again be tough to score on.

Uitermarkt:
“If we can play defense well enough, maybe keep teams in the mid 30s, and be consistent. We preach good defense and we also want to rebound well. What I’ve seen so far, I think we’re going to be pretty good again on defense.”

The Panthers will not have much size, but they did grab 31.3 rebounds per game last season, which was 15th in class 4A. Knoxville is scheduled to begin its season on November 24th against PCM. The Panthers will also have a scrimmage tonight against Ankeny Centennial. It is part of the Pride Series where teams can play a full game and not have it count on their season, they in turn must do a service project in their community, which for Knoxville is the annual Coaches vs. Cancer event in January.