February 8, 2008

 

            The Knights loaded up the yellow chariot on Friday evening and headed deep into Panther territory to face their long time rival in the final game of the 2007-2008 basketball season. The Knights came in knowing that a victory would clinch a second straight FAVC Cardinal Division Championship. The Panthers entered the game with a 9-10 record knowing that a victory would allow them to escape having a losing season. Knight Fans entered with recollections of the Little Miami game at the K-House in which the Knights jumped out to a sizeable 25-8 half-time advantage, only to see the Panthers run off 21 straight points in the second half, before the Knights righted the ship and squeaked out a 34-31 victory. Both teams were asking which team would show up for them tonight. However, when all is said and done – throw out the records, tighten up the shoelaces and put in the mouth guards – it’s Kings vs. Little Miami.

 

Kevin Hopperton, Spencer Berlekamp, Tyler Smyth, Andrew Winebrenner and Phil Fox provided the starting line-up for the Knights this evening. Little Miami jumped right on the Knights early and scored the first 4 points of the contest. Michael Olds and Matt Rumelhart nailed field goals to knot the contest at 4. The Panthers then went on an 8-2 run to take a 12-6 lead at the completion of the first quarter. The Knights shots were just not falling and they fell behind 20-10 in a physical first half in which only 9 fouls were collectively called.

 

Children were kept away from the locker room area in anticipation of Coach Poggi’s half-time speech. However, unnamed sources report that Coach Poggi simply told his team that their shots were not falling, but he anticipated that they would. He noted that they needed to keep up the defensive intensity that had been so successful in the past few games. A few minor adjustments in the defensive positioning were made and the Knights were sent back onto the floor with the belief that Little Miami would not be able to handle the Knight’s defensive pressure. Those words proved to be prophetic.

 

The third quarter began nicely for the Knights as Tyler Smyth nailed a field goal and then a three to narrow the Panther lead to 22-15. Kevin Hopperton and Andrew Winebrenner tossed in field goals and suddenly the near capacity crowd was beginning to realize that they were going to witness another barnburner between Kings and Little Miami as the Panther lead was narrowed to three at 22-19. Biz completed an And-One at just over two minutes showing on the clock and the Knights had tied the score at 22. Andrew Winebrenner’s jumper from the baseline gave the Knights their first lead of the evening. Spencer’s two free throws would widen the Knight lead to 26-22 with just over 1:30 remaining in the quarter. A Little Miami player developed cramps in his left leg and play was stopped for several minutes while he was attended to. This allowed Coach Poggi to instruct his troops off to the side while giving them a chance to catch their breath. A Knight turnover led to a Panther score, but Brooks Gear’s field goal reclaimed the Knight’s four point advantage, at 28-24, as the third quarter clock ticked to triple zeros.

 

A field goal and a foul shot by the Panthers narrowed the Knight lead to one as the final quarter began. Spencer Berlekamp’s two free throws, a field goal by Michael Olds, and Tyler Smyth’s field goal and trey lifted the Knights to a 10 point lead at 37-27 as the clock ran under 2 minutes. After a Little Miami time out, Smyth would bury two free throws to expand the lead to 12. With just under a minute left, Berlekamp would nail the final nail in the Panther coffin with a free throw and provide the Knights with a 41-27 victory.

 

Scoring totals, provided as always by Billy “The Stat Man” Bruns, showed Tyler Smyth leading the Knight offense with 12 points. Spencer Berlekamp tossed in 9 for the visitors while Brooks Gear was throwing down 6. Michael Olds, Andrew Winebrenner and Matt Rumelhart each fired in four.  Kevin Hopperton rounded out the scoring with 2. The Knights finished 9 for 16 from the Charity Stripe for 56%, while the Panthers successfully completed 5 of 7 opportunities for 71%.

 

With Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin”, the team’s adopted theme song, playing in the background, the Knights celebrated this victory over their long time rival that allowed the Knights to finish 17-4 overall with a 9-1 record in the FAVCC. The victory provided the sophomores with their first league title since 5th grade. More importantly, it provided the Knights with their second straight league title in the Junior Varsity division. As the players gathered outside the locker room a Little Miami Co-ed, wearing a “Knight Hunter” t-shirt, was spotted in the company of Kevin Hopperton. Obviously, she had found her Knight in Shining Armor.

 

Spencer Berlekamp, Tyler Smyth and Andrew Winebrenner have been called up to practice and dress with the varsity as state tournament action begins on Friday night against the Anderson Redskins. The action will be at Lakota West High School with tip-off at 6 PM. With the current varsity team losing seven seniors to graduation, there will be many challenges and opportunities for the 5 returning varsity players and for this strong group from the JV Team. As these Knights had learned through this memorable season, the key is that they “Don’t Stop Believin!”

 

Go Knights!

 

- Scooter Knight