The Knoxville Basketball Squads bounced back with wins over Davis County on Tuesday night heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The girls won another gritty contest 54-44. The Panthers started off hot five three point shots in the 1st quarter, but cooled off after that, but still was able to keep the Mustangs at arm’s length to lead by ten at the halftime break. Knoxville then hit a dry spell and allowed Davis County back in the game as the Mustangs trimmed the lead to three heading into the 4th quarter. That was when Brittany Bacorn came to the rescue as she scored 12 of her 14 points in the final 8:00 many of which were off of steals and other defensive plays. Coach Matt Ritchhart told KNIA/KRLS Sports they wanted to speed up Davis County a bit and found success in full court defense.

Ritchhart: “We knew that the full court press and that speed them up. We wanted to wait until the 4th quarter and we were hoping he would have to take a time out, plus we got a lot of steals and got Brittany on a lot of breakaways.”

Emma Dunkin led all scorers with 22 points, and Hannah Dunkin scored 11. The boys were in full control from tip to the final buzzer breezing to an 83-38 win. Knoxville built a lead of 21 by halftime and methodically got it up to above 35 points to invoke running clock late in the 4th quarter. Coach Troy Pearson told KNIA/KRLS Sports overall it was a good performance especially coming off Friday night’s loss.

Pearson: “I thought our box outs were good, we were a little late with our hands. I thought everyone did very well, and our bench was engaged the entire game.”

Carson Uitermarkt paced the Panthers with 23 points while Jay Kellar scored ten. The Knoxville girls are 9-4 and improve to 7-3 in the South Central Conference while the boys are 9-3 and 9-1 in the conference. The girls will travel to Oskaloosa on Thursday, while the boys are off until Saturday’s Panthers vs. Cancer game against Chariton.