What was supposed to be a battle between two undefeated boys basketball squads turned into another emphatic rout by the class 3A 5th ranked Knoxville Panthers as they claimed 1st place all to themselves in the South Central Conference with a 73-46 win over Albia on 95.3 KNIA. Knoxville led from start to finish grabbing a double digit lead early in the 2nd quarter and steadily built on it from there. With the game in hand, Kaiden Smith put the exclamation point on the win in the 4th quarter.

The Norris Brothers shared high point honors with 19, each as Lincoln drained five three point shots. Drake Larson, who had a frustrating 1st half saddled with foul trouble scored all 16 of his points in the 2nd half and told KNIA/KRLS Sports he had to trust his teammates while letting the game come to him.

Larson: “We really had to step on the gas and we really knew we could do whatever we wanted here. Coach Mick and McWilliams told me just stay positive, be a good teammate and that will lead to positive things.”

Smith added 11 points to put four Panthers in double figures. In the girls game, the Panthers saw more progress, but it still was not enough as Knoxville got down big in the 1st quarter and was unable to recover, falling 58-36. The Panthers trailed by as many as 20 in the 1st half but got the Lady Dee lead down to eight in the 3rd quarter before Albia went on an 8-0 run to shut the door. Hannah Dunkin scored 12 points to lead Knoxville. The boys are 9-0 on the season and 5-0 in the South Central Conference while the girls drop to 2-9 and 2-4 in conference play. Both Panthers head to Eldon to face off against Cardinal on Friday.

Photo From Ryan Northcote