The Knoxville Basketball Squads got big wins for different reasons on Friday against Albia. The girls stopped a two game losing streak with a 56-39 victory and the boys stayed in 1st place in the South Central Conference with a 56-44 win over Albia. The girls game was an uneven start with neither team finding a rhythm until the 2nd half when Knoxville began the second 16:00 of play with a quick 5-0 run to go up by nine and never allowed the Lady Dees any closer. Coach Matt Ritchhart told KNIA/KRLS Sports he put in a new defense and a new press made Albia uncomfortable.

Ritchhart: “I thought our defensive focus and execution was better tonight. We put in a different defense against Eddyville when it got away from us and we also put in a different press that we handled well. I told the girls if we get to 50 we would be in good shape and we ultimately got there.”

Brittany Bacorn scored 22 points to lead all scorers while Hannah Dunkin scored 18 points. In the boys game, the Panthers got off to a hot start and got up by as many as 17 points keeping Albia at arm’s length most of the way. Albia did cut the lead to nine midway through the 3rd quarter with a 10–0 run, but Knoxville immediately got it up to double digits. Landen Norris scored 22 points to lead all scorers. The Knoxville girls are now 5-5 on the season and move to 5-2 in the South Central Conference while the boys are 7-2 and 6-1 and remain in 1st place in the South Central Conference. The Panthers have a rather quick turnaround as they head across the River to play Pella Christian on Monday.