The Kings Knights face the Comets of neighborhood rival Mason tonight. Freshman game starts at 4:30, JV begins at 6:00, and Varsity concludes the triple header at 7:30.
If you aren’t able to attend, the Varsity game will be broadcasted live on WKNG RADIO. Game time is 7:30 pm.
The Knights came out strong in their season opener against league rival Loveland. Senior Tommy Schnee led all scorers with 14. Seniors Nick Bird and Zach Brashear and Freshman Jared Wheeler all hit double digits as well, scoring 13, 10, and 10 respectively. The Knights return to action Tuesday night 12/13 at home against Mason. Freshman game begins at 4:30, JV at 6, and Varsity at 7:30.
Final Score: Kings 78 Loveland 59
The Knights begin their 2011-2012 quest tonight against league rival Loveland. Loveland is coming into this game 0-1 with a loss to McNicholas. Freshman game starts at 4:30, JV begins at 6:00, and Varsity concludes the triple header at 7:30.
If you aren’t able to attend, the Varsity game will be broadcasted live on WKNG RADIO. Game time is 7:30 pm.
The Men’s Varsity Basketball team is coming off of an 11-10 /8-8 in FAVC record last season.
The Knights return four starters: Zach Brashear (10ppg), 6’4” Zach Hilderbrand, 6’4” Nick Bird, 6’3” Tommy Schnee, all four of these players are three year Varsity lettermen. They will be counted on for their experience, toughness and winning attitude. Three of the four played on our Region final football team (Schnee, Hilderbrand, and Bird). Brashear and Schnee were all league selections last season.
Also expecting to contribute are Seniors Steve Ayers a 5’10” guard and 5’9” Jon Melfi who is a shooting guard. Coming up from the JV Team will be Juniors, Nicholas Jenkins (6’1”), Nathan Pucke and Jacob Himes (both 6’7”), Guard Max Lerer and wing player Austin Copeland. We will also have some younger players who we expect to contribute this year….starting with 6’4” sophomore Matt James, sophomore guard Josh Woody, and sophomore point guard Ray Brewster. Another “youngster” 6’3” freshmen Jared Wheeler will also be counted upon to provide scoring, rebounding and athleticism.
The Knights will open the 2011-12 season with a home game on Friday, Dec., 9 vs. league rival Loveland.
Please come out and support the Knights.
Game Summary: Boxscore
WKNG Radio: Game Podcast
Photo Gallery: Pulse Journal
The Kings Knights mounted an outstanding comeback against the Lakota West Firebirds cutting a 10 point lead to 1 with 3:20 remaining in the game driven by 3 big defensive stops in a row and clutch offensive play by Zach Hildebrand (0ffensive rebound and 2 key free throws), Justin Crull (drive for a bucket) and Jonny Brewster (offensive rebound and 2 key free throws) between 4:00 and 3:20 in the 4th quarter to cut the score to 55-56.
2 extremely costly calls over the next minute kept Lakota West in the game when the momentum was in the Knights favor. Both occurred right in front of the WKNG booth and you can catch all the details in the final 3 minutes of the contest on the WKNG podcast. Lakota West converted one of those poor calls into a steal and a layup.
Independent of the blown calls, Nick Bird responded with a really nice inside move to cut it back to 1 point with 1:15 left in the contest. Lakota West worked the clock from 1:02 to 34:7 before Justin Crull fouled Freshmen Tyler Williams to stop the clock and put the Firebird Freshmen at the line. Williams only converted 1 of 2 giving the Knights the final possession with a 57-59 score. The Knights missed the final shot, but Tommy Schnee came up with another huge Knight offensive rebound. Tommy’s shot was blocked and the loose ball resulted in a jump ball and West had the possession arrow. Lakota had possession with 1:8 seconds left in the game, and despite numerous attempts by the Knights to stop the clock in the deadball situation with a foul and a near 5 second call, the whistles had been put up for the night and Lakota steals the win. The Knights mounted a huge 13-3 run midway through the 4th quarter limiting West to 3 free throws on 5 attempts to make this one a thrilling finish.
Sophomore Ali Barnes came up huge for West in the first half making 16 of his career high 22 carrying West to a 34-26 halftime lead. While only making 6 points in the second half they were both critical 3′s. The first came to close the 3rd quarter opening the West lead back up to 8 and the final in the 4th frame to open up a 42-53 lead. Barnes ended the night with 6 3′s and 4 for 4 from the free throw line. Senior Phil Cook delivered 12 and Freshmen Tyler Williams had 11 including 3 big points down the stretch. While Monty Boykins was viewed as a leading GMC Scoring threat, he was held under his 35% field goal percentage going 0 for the night from the field and only picked up a couple points from the free throw line.
The Knights were led in scoring by Nick Bird with 13, Jonny Brewster with 12, and Zach Hildebrand with 12.
While the Knights would have loved to come out on the winning end of this one, the game did show the resolve and drive the boys have been famous for in the second half of the season. Jonny Brewster closes out his high school career with an outstanding game and big time plays that we’ve come to appreciate and expect from our Senior Captain. The Knights return all but 1 next season and look forward to the 2011-12 campaign.
Game Summary: Boxscore
External Coverage: Pulse-Journal
Photo Gallery: Pulse Journal
The Knights wrapped up a strong second half of the the season to finish 11-9 with a win on the road Tuesday night over Little Miami.
Tommy Schnee led the Knights with 15 points including a stretch in the second period where he scored 6 straight points off of a couple of great Jonny Brewster no look passes.
The Knights came out in the 3rd quarter and attacked Little Miami making a 19-5 run to open up a sizeable 44-29 lead after three quarters of play. The Knights attacked the rim, with both Jonny Brewster and Nick Bird attacking the basket forcing both Dillon Briscoe and John Alberson into foul trouble.
Little Miami mounted a 4th quarter comeback starting the quarter with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 6 before Justin Crull nailed his 2nd three of the half to keep the Knights up by nine 47-38. Little Miami outscored the Knights 22-5 in the first half of the final period to make it a 1 point game with 3:15 left in the contest on an Alberson tip-in. The Knights would close the game perfect from the free throw line to seal the win. Nick Bird put the Knights up 51-48 on 2 from the charity strip before Joel Leitner nailed his final 3 of the game to tie the score at 51-51 with 1:35 left in the contest.
Kings worked the clock down to :14.4 seconds to set up the last play of the game. Jonny Brewster got open for a last 3 but Little Miami’s defense swarmed him in the corner. Nick Bird picked up the final rebound and went back up for a last second shot got fouled by Little Miami’s John Alberson to go to the line with :00.2 left on the clock. After a Little Miami timeout, Nick stepped up and sunk both to put the Knights ahead 53-51. Little Miami attempted a long pass to Alberson for the tip-in to tie, but the Knights secondary tipped it away for the win.
Little Miami was led in scoring by Joel Leitner with 17 including 2 big 3′s in the final 3:30 of the game. Both Briscoe and Alberson were held under their season averages with 9. For the Knights, Tommy Schnee lead the team in scoring with 15 of which 9 sparked the Knights to the first half lead, Nick Bird contributed 13 including that game winning 4 for 4 free throw shooting to finish the final quarter, and Justin Crull came off the bench and delivered 10 points including a couple critical 3′s in the second half.
Next Up: The Knights look forward to their first round of the OHSAA tournament game Saturday at 5:00PM at Mason High School. The Knights drew Lakota West (Click for Season Results and Team Stats) in the opening round of the Dayton District 3 bracket of this years tournament (click for District 3 bracket pairings). West finished the season at 8-12 dropping their final game of the season at Fairfield Friday night (see Boxscore). The only common opponent between the 2 programs is Mason which West lost to by 20 twice this season.
West is led in scoring by Soph0more Monty Boykins. Boykins is the 2nd leading scoring in the GMC this season averaging 13.5 per game, but has been struggling late in the season missing the Middletown game, being held to 2 points in the season ending loss to Fairfield and averaging only 5 points a game over the last 4 games of the season. While Boykins leads the team in scoring he is shooting under 35% from the field and only 63% from the free throw line. Senior Phil Cook is the only other starter in double figures.
Game Summary: Boxscore
The Knights fell to a Senior Night inspired Glen Este Trojans ball club Friday night. The Trojans have 7 seniors on the team and started 5 including 4 that usually come off the bench. While the Knights held the Trojan seniors defensively forcing several turnovers in the first 3 minutes of action, shots were not falling on the road the way they did against Milford at home on Tuesday. The Trojans were able to keep it close and were only behind 3-2 when Glen Este brought in their primary Seniors Mike Bouley and Corey Goedde and their under classmen starters. Glen Este took off on a 8-0 run before Zach Brashear stopped the bleeding at the end of the quarter making it 10-5 at the end of the first break.
Ben Glischinski delivered a scoring boost in the second quarter delivering 4 straight points to make it 12-9 halfway through the 2nd period. Glen Este outscored the Knights 8-3 to final 4 minutes to take a 20-12 lead into the locker room. Tommy Schnee opened the 3rd quarter with a bucket to cut the lead to 6, but another Glen Este 12-2 run put the Knights behind 32-16 with 2 minutes left in the 3rd.
The Knights couldn’t put a run together in the final quarter and ended the game 53-35. The Knights had 10 players in the scoring column, but none in double figures. Seniors Mike Bouley and Corey Goedde came off the bench on Senior night for Glen Este to lead the team in scoring with 20 and 15 respectively.
Next Up: Kings travels to Little Miami Tuesday night to close out the season. Little Miami stands at 4-11 in the FAVC East but have been playing very good basketball of late. (see Season Results). Little Miami led Milford through 3 quarters Friday night before the Eagles pulled out a 4th quarter win at home. Little Miami also knocked off Turpin twice this season for some quality conference wins. At stake for the Knights, the first winning season since 2008 and an opportunity to finish in the top half of the FAVC East. For Little Miami, it’s Kings, what other motivation is needed!
Other Friday night updates from the Top 10 (click to see the Cincinnati Enquirer rankings):
#3 LaSalle upsets #1 Moeller to take a share of the GCL South title. The States #1 ranked Moeller drops 2 in a row after going 18-0.
#8 Middletown overcomes #2 Lakota East with a 34 point 4th quarter to take second in the GMC. Middletown beats both Moeller and Lakota East in the final week of the season. Mikey Brown (formerly of Lebanon) gets a rare start for Senior night and delivers a career high 22 points in the win. Knights fans can see the red hot Middies Saturday at 3:30 prior to the Knights vs. Lakota West game at Mason.
#4 Princeton takes care of #7 Mason at home to take a share of the GMC second place with Middletown.
#10 St. X drops to Honorable Mention Elder in an overtime loss in the “battle for the bottom” of the GCL South. X who finishes 3-7 in the conference and 9-11 overall also lost to 6th place FAVC East foe Walnut Hills this year.
The only FAVC East team mentioned in this weeks Cincinnati Enquirer Poll is Walnut Hills. The Eagles are 9-11 overall and 7-9 in the FAVC East are likely to finish 6th in the Conference. The Knights wins over both league leading Milford and Anderson knocked Milford, Anderson and the Knights out of this weeks poll. As you can see from the Glen Este/Anderson recap article above, Glen Este continues to be overlooked in the polls too. Turpin with their 2nd loss to Little Miami last Friday also disappeared, leaving only bottom dweller Walnut Hills in the rankings… Go Figure? Of interest of those that are ranked. Middletown (ranked 8th) who upset State #1 ranked Moeller last week will host #2 in the Enquirer poll Lakota East tonight. And Moeller #1 in the Cincinnati Enquirer polls travels to #3 LaSalle as they try to rebound from losing their perfect season last week in a sell out game for the Lancers.
Game Summary: Boxscore
External Coverage: Pulse Journal Photo Gallery
The Knights upset FAVC Leading and #8 in the City, Milford Eagles 71-65 Friday night in a game the Knights lead all 4 quarters.
Milford jumped in front early 7-3 in the first 4 minutes of the contest, but Ben Glischinski notched the game at 10-10 on a nice inside move around Robert Overbeck with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter and Zach Brashear drove the lane with 3.6 seconds left to put the Knights in front 12-11 after the first quarter.
Kings opened up a 4 point lead early in the second period behind baskets from Nick Bird and Zach Brashear before Callan Hughes off the Milford bench notched the game back up at 18 with 2 quick baskets. The second quarter was back and forth until Tommy Schnee closed the 2nd quarter with a bucket to send the Knights into the locker room with a 2 point 24-22 lead.
The third quarter saw the Knights open up an 8 point lead. Jonny Brewster nailed a 3 at the 5:00 mark in the quarter to open up a 31-25 lead, and than layups by Brewster and Glischinski widened it the 35-27 with 3:30 left in the quarter. Milford cut it to 3, 35-32 before the final momentum shift of the night. Zach Brashear made a behind the back outlet pass to Jonny Brewster who delivered one of his patented no look passes to a cutting Justin Crull who went into 6’8″ Garrett Mayleben for a 3 point play to widen the lead to 38-32. Crull came back with a backdoor cut for a basket on an assist from Brashear and finally Crull picked off a pass to Cody Dierkes that he took coast to coast to open up a 42-34 lead. Zach Hildebrand closed the quarter with a drive down the lane to complete a 44-36 third quarter lead.
Milford made a run early in the forth quarter but Ben Glischinski picked up a backcourt steal, and than on the next possession made a bucket on the assist from Crull to widen the lead back up to 11 with 4 minutes to go. Milford’s league leading free throw shooting Senior Guard Jess Stankeveh and 48% 3-point shooting Zach Baker attempted an Eagle comeback scoring 21 of their 24 points combined in the final quarter. But Knights Senior Jonny Brewster delivered 7 of 8 free throw shooting in the final 47 seconds to seal the victory 71-65!
Jonny Brewster delivered a new career high 25 points in his final home game. Justin Crull came off the bench and delivered 10 points but more importantly held the best 3 point shooter in the FAVC East to only 2 3′s for the game. Ben Glischinski scored 9 and came off the bench to help control 6’7″ Robert Overbeck. Zach Brashear and Zach Hildebrand also delivered 8 in a game that almost saw 5 Knights in double figures. Nick Bird and Tommy Schnee scored 6 and 5 respectively to close out the scoring for the winners.
Kings moves to 7-7 in the FAVC East and mathematically can still finish in 3rd in the conference with wins over Glen Este and Little Miami. Turpin’s win over Loveland puts them at 9-6 with one game remaining at Wilmington and Anderson’s loss to Glen Este makes their conference record now 8-7 as they wrap up conference play Friday with Loveland. See League Standings for the latest update.
Next Up: The Knights travel to Glen Este Friday night to face the 2nd place team in the conference. The Knights look to erase the bad memories of an earlier season loss at home 55-33 (Recap) in which the Knights played even in the first half but struggled to score in the second. But this is a different Knight team playing with confidence as the season comes to a close and the tournament awaits just around the corner.
