The Knoxville Basketball Squads earned a split with Chariton on Tuesday as the girls fell in a close game for the second straight outing 43-41, while the boys while struggling early with the Chargers pulled away in the 2nd half to win 72-45 heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The girls, down by ten in the 4th came back to get to within two points in the waning second but could not get a point blank shot to fall on three attempts. Hannah Dunkin scored 17 points for high point scoring. The class 3A #4 boys started quickly by opening a 16-8 first quarter lead and while the first half was tough to shake Chiarton, the Panthers outscored the Chargers in the 3rd quarter 24-11 to pull away and win by 27 to remain undefeated. Knoxville got balanced scoring with four Panthers in double figures led by Kaiden Smith with 16 points, Drake Larson with 13, 11 coming in the 2nd half, Lincoln Norris had 11 and Landon Norris scored ten. Coach Joel Keady told KNIA/KRLS Sports defense was better in the 2nd half which will go a long way for games down the road.

Keady: “Part of the reason these guys have success is they believe in each other and they do things the right way. Sometimes it feels like defensively we’re giving up a lot of points, but then when you look at the scoreboard it’s not that bad and that’s where it has to be if we want to win games against schools our size and in the postseason.”

Knoxville goes to 14-0 and 11-0 in the South Central Conference while the girls are 4-12 and 4-7 in conference play. Both teams head to Centerville on Friday.

Photo from Ryan Northcote