Friday the Knights faced a team many perceived to be their nemesis… the Anderson Redskins had knocked a strong Knights team out of the tournament last year, and last Fall the football Knights lost in the postseason to a Redskins team that would go on  to win the state title.  But after the Knights’ resounding 60-39 victory Friday night, the fact is that the Knights have won 2 of the 3 games the two teams have played in the past five seasons. 

GAME STATS | SLIDE SHOW (Courtesy of Jenny Haralamous)

Enough history.   This was a special win for this year’s Knights, who came in knowing they were the better team.  But Anderson, though 8-12 on the year, had won 4 straight, and had athletes that were capable of making things dicey.   There was no question that the Knights would have to play well or stay nervous.  They played well.

The start of the game though, was marked by one of those early “uh-oh” moments:  Nick Truesdale, a 6-8 UC commitment in football, spun in the lane for a little jumper that looked almost unstoppable.  That’s the bad news.  The good news:  it was not obvious how else the Redskins were going to score.  The Knights defense was locking down every other option, and it was not likely that Truesdale, at 14 ppg, was going to be able to beat the Knights by himself.  The first quarter ended in promising fashion, at 15 to 9, with Danny Hagee playing Truesdale even at 6 points apiece.

In the second quarter Knights’ X-factor Aaron Gayhart upset the balance of power under the basket, posting 8 points and 2 offensive rebounds in the quarter and pushing the Knights to a 32 to 20 half time advantage.

Then in the 3rd quarter Matt Stevens stepped in, nailing two 3’s and a 2 as the Knights outscored the Redskins 16 to 6, pushing the lead to 22, and making the 4th quarter a period of celebration for the Knights, who closed out a satisfying 60 to 39 win in which everyone participated.

Gayhart finished with 19 points.  Combined with a 27 point effort against Little Miami last week, Aaron has begun to present himself as a force to deal with in the tournament.  Matt Stevens contributed 11, Mark Byrd 10 and Danny Hagee 9 as the seniors helped the Knights ensure they’d play another day.  Tyler Smyth, Derrick Harris, Nick Bauer and Calvin Scruby rounded out the scoring with 4, 3, 2 and 2 respectively.  Alex Grant continued his stellar work on the boards, leading the Knights with 5 rebounds in just 6 1/2 minutes of play.

Next the Knights will head to the Cintas Center next Friday at 7:45 to take on the St. Xavier Bombers - the no. 4 team in the state!   The 14-7 Knights have the opportunity to make this one of the more exciting in recent memory - let’s TURN CINTAS RED!!

 GO KNIGHTS!!