Late defensive stops give the Knoxville Girls basketball Squad all it needed to fend off PCM last night in a battle of Highway 14 57-51. Knoxville came out hot to start jumping out to a 16-8 1st quarter lead on three-three points shots and a defense that did not allow PCM a made two-point shot in the 1st half. But the Mustangs came out in the 2nd half and immediately went on a 16-4 run to cut the lead to one, but could never grab the lead, and Knoxville gradually pulled away to a double digit lead before settling for the six point win. Panthers Senior Larissa Wells told KNIA/KRLS Sports during the second half, everyone handled the pressure well.

Wells: “We did get in a slump in the second half. We settled and talked to each other so that’s a good thing. We’re a guard team so I trust everyone that I can get the ball to and they’ll make a play so that’s a big thing.

PCM Coach Sami Allison-Rodriguez, while disappointed in the outcome, told KNIA/KRLS Sports this type of game was what her team needed to learn about themselves and to prepare them for future games this season.

Allison-Rodriguez: “That’s a fun game, you want that early in the season. It was against a good team, it was tactical and you want that to learn from. We’ll look at the film and learn from this and be ready next Friday for the conference.”

Brittany Bacorn led two players in double figures for Knoxville with 16 points, while Hannah Dunkin scored 13. PCM was paced by Paige Steenhoek with 14 points, Tori Lindsay had 13 and Addison Steenhoek scored 11. Knoxville is 1-0 and is off until next Friday when the Panthers host the South Central Conference’s newest member Cardinal, while PCM will also wait until next Friday when the Mustangs open up Heart of Iowa Conference play against Nevada.