Knights Fall to Warriors, 63-61
It was another wild Tuesday night. The Lebanon Warriors were making a rare visit to The Mill. The Firecrackers were there, which guaranteed a packed house for the first half at least, and… the Knights came out stone cold.
The game could hardly have started worse… a nice steal but a missed layup, and Lebanon streaks up the court and nails a three. It was a harbinger of things to come. The Warriors held an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, with Derek Hellemann, their 6-7 senior center, scoring 10 and pulling down 7 rebounds. It looked worse than it sounds. The Warriors were shooting 80% from the field, the Knights 27%.
In the second quarter things did get worse, the Warriors stretching the lead to 14 before Calvin Scruby nailed a 3 to bring make it 34 to 23 at the half. Hellemann had 18 points at the break, and 9 rebounds.
The third quarter was wilder than the first. The bad news: the Warriors scored 22 points, the most points the Knights have given up in a quarter this season. The not so bad news: the Knights scored 18, meaning they were finally getting untracked.
And the Warriors’ lack of depth - they would get exactly 0 points from their bench - was finally starting to take its toll.
The Knights - down 56 to 43 starting the 4th quarter - rattled off 10 straight points on a 3 and 2 free throws by Aaron Gayhart, a 3 by Mark Byrd and a 2 by Derrick Harris. And suddenly it was 56 to 53, with plenty of time left to play.
But the Knights could not sustain their spurt, and what was left was a battle of attrition. The Knights only managed 2 for 8 from the field in the final 4 minutes, the Warriors 3 of 10 for the quarter. But when Derrick Harris cooly knocked down 2 free throws to make it 57-58, and Aaron Gayhart duplicated the feat with 27.9 ticks left to tie the game at 61… it looked like a game the Knights might win at the free throw line.
But the Warriors had the ball, and the Knights had no answer when the Hellemann drove the lane and hit a short jumper with 3 seconds left, ending the game at 63-61.
It was a game dominated almost completely by Hellemann, who finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots. The Knights were led by Aaron Gayhart, who had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Derrick Harris contributed 11 points and 5 assists, Mark Byrd 10 points and 7 assists, and Calvin Scruby 10 points and 2 assists off the bench. Matt Stevens chipped in 9 and Danny Hagee 5 to round out the scoring.
Key Stats: The Knights lost despite forcing 26 turnovers, primarily because they shot only 39% from the field and 33% from behind the arc.
Now it’s time for the stretch run… the Knights travel to Turpin for their final regular season battle with the Spartans!!
GO KNIGHTS!!