The Knoxville Boys Basketball Squad pulled away in the 2nd half to down Chariton on Tuesday minus head coach Troy Pearson 80-51 and the girls fell late to the Chargers 54-45 as both games were heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The boys were without head Coach Troy Pearson, who was out due to an illness so varsity assistant Joel Keady stepped up and coached the team. After a back and forth 1st half that saw Knoxville closed the 2nd quarter on a 7-0 run, it was all Panthers in the 2nd half outscoring Chariton 49-27 in the final 16:00 of play. Landen Norris scored a career high 32 points and while Chariton main go to guy, Mason Smith got his points with 25, no one else was in double figures for the Chargers. Keady told KNIA/KRLS Sports Chariton stayed with Knoxville for the first part of the game, but Knoxville eventually forced the Chargers to run low on energy as the game wore on.

Keady: “We knew they were going to throw the first punch and be able to weather that storm and we knew we had guys who were ready to go and used our cardio against them.:

The girls game was a tough physical fight for four quarters, ultimately won by Chariton, who outscored Knoxville in the 4th quarter 17-4. Knoxville held the lead by as many as eight points in the 2nd half, and in a reversal of fortune from Friday night when Knoxville came back from being down, it was the Chargers who forced turnovers and controlled the boards for most of the game. Brittany Bacorn scored 15 points to lead Knoxville. The girls are now 3-3 on the season and 3-1 in the South Central Conference, while the boys are 4-1 and also 3-1 in the conference. Both Panther squads head to Centerville on Friday.