Friday the Knights came into their game with Turpin hoping to separate themselves from the team that recent history suggests will be their primary rival for the FAVC Cardinal crown.  They left The Mill with a solid victory, sole possession of first place, and some satisfying momentum heading into their important conference showdown with Wilmington next Friday.   

Stats | Game Photos (Courtesy of Jenny Haralamous)

It wasn’t pretty. The Spartans, still trying to shake off the loss of their football team to backyard rival and eventual state champion Anderson, include 3 starters with D-I commitments in football, and at times the game seemed to digress toward the other sport.  There were 39 fouls called, including 3 technicals.  This is not the Knights’ favorite style of play, but they proved Friday that they can win these types of games too, coming from behind to hand the Spartans their third loss of the seaon, 61 to 52.

The Knights came out flat, without their usual precision on offense and unable to deal with the Spartans’ size underneath, and fell behind at the end of the first quarter 16 to 8.  The Spartans had demonstrated their plan - to work the ball underneath and prevent Matt Stevens from beating them with 3’s.  After dropping 7 threes on Northwest last Tuesday, Matt would not take a shot from the field in the first half.

In the second quarter the Knights fought back with their typical balanced scoring - 6 Knights put up points in the quarter - and finally, in the final minute of the quarter, the Knights took the lead, as Stevens and Chris Burton toed the line and knocked down 2 tough free throws each with no one in the lane, the result of a foul and a technical.

Unfortunately the Knights could not sustain that momentum as the Spartans took an early lead in the third quarter. But the Knights stayed close, and when the Spartans were hit with their second technical late in the quarter and the Spartans’ 6-5 Aaron Van Kuiken fouled out, it looked like another momentum change was coming. But the success of this Knights team seems destined to hinge on free throw shooting, and when, starting with the technical, the Knights missed 5 straight at the line and finished the quarter on the short end of a 41 to 36 score, the lost opporunity seemed like it might play a key role in the game.

But in the fourth quarter the Knights’ relentless play began to take its toll, as the Spartans’ depleted front line finally began to wear down.  The Knights scored 25 in the quarter with 6 players contributing - led by Aaron Gayhart’s 8 points - and the Knights hit 8 of 11 free throws down the stretch, finally pulling away and putting the final touches on a sweet 61 to 52 victory.

Two telling statistics in the victory: the Knights were outrebounded by the Spartans 30 to 19 - ordinarily an insurmountable margin - but the Knights shot 58% from the field compared to the Spartans 41%, so there were fewer offensive rebounds to be had.

Senior Aaron Gayhart led all scorers with 16 points and added 5 rebounds.  Junior Derrick Harris contributed 14 points.

Stats | Photos (Courtesy of Jenny Haralamous)

And while the Knights were celebrating, they learned that the Wilmington Hurricane had fallen to Amelia - so the Knights (3-0 conference, 5-2 overall) head to Wilmington next Friday with the opportunity to build on their lead in the Cardinal conference heading into the holidays.

Standings

See you at Wilmington Friday!!

Go Knights!!