Two contentious games, but two Knoxville victories from Albia last night with the girls hanging on 36-34, and the boys surviving 55-51 to remain unbeaten in the South Central Conference. The girls seemed to have total control of things in the first half leading Albia 20-9 at halftime, but the Lady Dees opened the 2nd half on a 10-0 run to pull within one point. The game stayed within one-to-three points the rest of the way, however down the stretch, the Panthers made the plays needed to get the win. Coach Matt Ritchhart said after a slow start in the 3rd quarter, his team gathered themselves to preserve the win.

Ritchhart: “I thought we played good defense in the first half and not because we held them to nine points, but our execution was really good. We lost our composure in the second half and I was happy to see us gain it back, unlike how we did on the road here last year.”

Emma and Hannah Dunkin shared high point honors with 12 each. The Knoxville boys held on after building a 13 point lead in the 4th quarter. The Panthers looked to be ready to blow the game open up 47-34 with just over 7:00 remaining, but Albia drained four three point shots to get the lead down to one. Knoxville never gave up the lead but got crucial plays and made free throws down the stretch to get the four point win. Coach Troy Pearson told KNIA/KRLS Sports no one player dominated the stat line, and he credited his team for keeping their composure during a hotly contested game.

Pearson: “We didn’t really have one person that got hot tonight but we had a lot of guy do a little. I thought Noah got downhill better in the second half, he was able to get some of the calls.

Noah Keefer had 12 points to lead Knoxville while Carson Uitermarkt scored 11 points, three of which was on a 75 foot shot at the end of the 3rd quarter. Knoxville girls are 6-3 and 5-2 in the South Central Conference, while the boys are 7-1 and 7-0. Both teams will not have long to wait as they welcome Pella Christian into Panthers Gym on Monday.