In the battle for bragging rights along the north end of Highway 14, the Knoxville Boys Basketball Squad defeated PCM 62-55 on Tuesday night, as heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The first half was a grinder with neither team shooting well from the field. PCM jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the first half, but Knoxville switched to a zone defense and ended the 2nd quarter on a 14-0 run to take the lead 25-21 at the break. The Panthers stayed aggressive on defense into the second half, upping the lead to as many as 13 at one point in the third quarter. Coach Jeff Larson told KRLS Sports his players were focused and did the right things to get the win.

Larson:
“We kept grinding and switched the deense up a little bit. The kids were engaged and they talked and hustled and it was a good deal.”

For PCM, Coach Fred Lorensen (LOREN-sen) pointed to foul trouble for his team and their limited action in the first half.

Lorensen:
“We were our own worst enemies, it was one of those deals that we saw the enemy and it was us. We had four starters with 2 fouls before the first quarter was over. We just can’t play that way.”

Knoxville had three players in double figures, led by Spencer Hixson with 18 points including a late three to put the game out of reach. Kieren (key-IR-ren) Nichols chimed in with 16 and Luke Keitges (KITE-chess) scored 12 points. The Mustangs also had three players in double figures led by Andrew Mitchell with 14 points Gatlin Boell (BELL) and Grant Landgrebe (LAN-greeb) with 11 points each. Knoxville is 1-0 and is off until next Tuesday when the Panthers host Clarke to open up South Central Conference play. PCM will host Montezuma on Thursday.