A piece of the Knoxville Boys Basketball puzzle was reinserted into the lineup on Monday during the Panthers win over Mount Pleasant in the first round of the class 3A substate. Kaiden Smith, who injured his knee two weeks ago against Oskaloosa was not only back on the court, but started for the Panthers and scored four points. That may not be much, but his presence was enough to spark the Panthers defensively on Monday. Coach Joel Keady tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that while it is good to have the six/seven post in the line up, they will be careful.

Keady: “Just trying to make sure you’re healthy and not do something that gets in the way of what we want to accomplish. We wanted to put our best foot forward and not risk any more injury.”

The Panthers will host Fort Madison on Thursday in the substate semi final. You can hear the game live on your radio home for Knoxville sports 95.3 KNIA starting at 6:30.

Photo from Ryan Northcote