The Knoxville Girls Basketball Squad shook off a pesky Martensdale-St. Mary’s last night, pulling away in the fourth quarter to win 59-31 as heard live on 95.3 KNIA. Knoxville jumped out to an 18-6 first quarter lead, but the Blue Devils made an 11-0 run to get to within four points just before the halftime break. Knoxville came out in the second half and applied pressure defense coupled with forcing more Martensdale-St. Mary’s turnovers built a lead that would gradually get to the final margin of 28. Panthers Coach Jim Uitermarkt told KNIA/KRLS Sports he hoped the girls learned a little patience after what he thought his girls put up ill-advised shots in the second quarter.

Uitermarkt:
“Got to that area where we were having trouble scoring, and we should’ve pulled the ball out and ran some clock maybe a minute off the clock until we could find a lay up or a shot in the paint. So hopefully the girls learned from that and we’ll be ready for that if we face it again.”

Maggie Wilkins led three Panthers in double figures with 20 points, which got her past the 1,500 career point mark, Emma Dunkin tied a career high with 19 points, and Tara Uitermarkt scored 13. Knoxville is now 14-4 and will end the regular season tonight at Fairfield. Meanwhile, it is the Knoxville boys turn to host Martensdale St. Mary’s and the Panthers are facing one of the best class 1A teams in the area. The Blue Devils come in at 18-0 and won the Pride of Iowa Conference by two games. Coach Matt Ritchhart tells KNIA/KRLS Sports regardless what class the Blue Devils are in, they are good and the conference they are in is no slouch either.

Ritchhart:
“Martensdale is a good team, Central Decatur is a good team, Mount Ayr is a good team, there’s a lot of good teams in that conference. I know they lost that 6/11 kid, but I don’t care, they are a really good team.”

A long standing school record could fall tonight for the Panthers. With his next made three point shot, Kieren Nichols will break the career three point shots made at Knoxville, which he is currently tied with former Panther Great Brad Davis. Tonight’s game can also be heard live on 95.3 KNIA with audio provided over the KHS Activities YouTube Channel. Pregame is set to begin at 7:15.