Knox makes Elite 8
By Paul Dendiu
PLYMOUTH�Two groups of Panthers were too much for the Knox boys basketball team to tame.
The Redskins (21-5) saw their impressive season end in the Class 3A Plymouth Regional final Saturday.
Knox defeated Western 69-64 in the morning contest, then fell to No. 1 Gary Roosevelt 68-45 in the championship game.
GARY ROOSEVELT 68, KNOX 45
The Plymouth High School gymnasium had become almost like a second home for the Redskins, but the Panthers (23-1) owned the court at �The Rock� Saturday night.
Knox came out firing, shooting 57 percent in the opening period. Senior Tyler Moore netted 10 of the �Velts� 19 first-quarter points and the Redskins finished the stanza up by four.
�Our kids came out ready to play. They were aggressive at the start, and I think Roosevelt was on their heels,� Knox coach Todd Boldry said. �I�m not sure if they expected us to come out and go after them like we did.�
Roosevelt clamped down defensively from that point on, holding Knox to 14 shots (its first-quarter total) during the next two quarters combined. The Redskins had more turnovers in the second and third periods (seven) than field goals (six), and could only manage 16 points, while the Panthers put up 30.
�We�re used to being the more-athletic team on the floor for a lot of games we play. We haven�t seen a lot of that type of athleticism and quickness this year. They�re by far the quickest team we�ve played all season,� Boldry said. �They kind of woke up and extended their defensive pressure a little bit and forced us out on the floor more than where we wanted to be. It slowly took its toll on us.�
It definitely took its toll on senior sharp-shooter Cole Herr. Herr, who had been averaging four 3-pointers per contest in the tournament, missed five of his six attempts from beyond the arc and was never a factor.
�People know that Cole can shoot the ball, and Roosevelt covered him up,� Boldry said. �You think you have a shot and do the things you need to do to get the ball to the person you need to shoot it, and you get ready to release it and there�s somebody there. When they�re quicker at every position, there�s not a whole lot you can do.�
Knox trailed by four at halftime, yet could get no closer than three in the second half.
After a Kyle Keiper layup cut the margin to 29-26 at the 6:30 mark of the third, the Panthers went on a 12-4 run during the next two minutes. Center NaQuan Jackson accounted for six of those points, and hit another layup at the end of the period as Roosevelt regained its double-digit lead (45-35).
�That was probably a big play,� Boldry said. �We had it within eight and they get the layup at the buzzer. It�s just tough to climb out of that hole in eight minutes. If we could have kept it at four or five, perhaps it would�ve been a different story. We wanted to try to keep it a two or three possession game until the last couple minutes and take our chances from there. We let it get away a little too early.�
�I thought we played much better defensively to start the second half. I think the fatigue factor took over for Knox late in the game,� Roosevelt coach Ronald Broome said. �The shots weren�t falling for them. They couldn�t handle the pressure when we were getting up on them. My guards pressured them all over the court tonight.�
Panthers sophomore guard Tyrone Appleton caused the most problems on both ends of the floor. Though he only finished with six points, he and classmate Robert Jenkins smothered Knox�s backcourt. Appleton also put on a dazzling ball-handling display, constantly blowing past Knox defenders and setting up teammates for easy baskets.
�Appleton stirs this pot. He�s unselfish and he�s not trying to go out there to do it for himself. He�s doing it for his teammates,� Broome said. �He looks forward to nights like this and going out and competing.�
�They�ve got guys that can score inside, they�ve got guys that can score outside. That�s why they�re No. 1 in the state,� Boldry said. �They got control of the game in the third quarter and they kept it. We wanted to shut down their drives, but they were too quick and got around us anyway. We played defense like we wanted to � they just made better plays than we did.�
Roosevelt scored nine of the first 13 points in the fourth to thwart any idea of a Knox rally.
Jackson ended with 15, Jamal Nash had 14, Larry Upshaw added 13 and Jenkins chipped in 11. The Panthers will face Fort Wayne Elmhurst (21-5) at next weekend�s Lafayette Jefferson Semistate.
�Defense was the key to this win,� Broome said. �It was a team effort.�
Moore, who finished with a game-high 25, also grabbed seven rebounds. Keiper was the only other Knox player to reach double figures, scoring 10. Herr hauled down four boards.
�We went about 2 1/2 months without losing, and we kind of forgot what it felt like,� Boldry said. �You never expect to go on a 17-game winning streak. It happens one game at a time, and the kids just had an outstanding stretch together.�
Class 3A Regional championship
KNOX (45): Josh Sponaugle 0 0-0 0, Tyler Moore 10 4-7 25, Tyler Sennert 0 0-0 0, Cole Herr 2 0-0 5, Cory Masson 0 1-2 1, Kyle Keiper 3 4-4 10, Josh Lawrence 1 0-0 2, Stephon Nokes 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17 9-13.
GARY ROOSEVELT (68): LaCelle McKinley 0 0-0 0, Eric Rowe 1 0-1 2, Robert Jenkins 5 1-2 11, Geoffrey Grant 1 0-0 2, Larry Upshaw 5 2-2 13, Jamal Nash 7 0-0 14, Anson Harris 0 0-0 0, NaQuan Jackson 5 4-4 15, Tyrone Appleton 2 2-2 6, Henry Emerson 0 0-0 0, Quintin Allen 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28 10-12.
Score by quarters
Knox 19 23 35 45
Roosevelt 15 27 45 68
3-point goals: Knox 2 (Herr, Moore), Gary Roosevelt 2 (Jackson, Upshaw). Total fouls: Knox 15, Gary Roosevelt 16.
Records: Knox 21-5, Gary Roosevelt 23-1.
Officials: Mark Wise and Marvin Davis.
KNOX 69, WESTERN 64
Knox had a fantastic stretch in the first half of its semifinal against the Panthers (19-5).
Despite six first-quarter turnovers, the Redskins blistered the nets, hitting 65 percent from the floor, and built a 19-point advantage with just under three minutes left in the second quarter.
Western went on a 9-2 spurt to close the gap to 12 before Knox�s Josh Sponaugle drained a 25-footer at the buzzer to push the halftime lead to 15.
�Give Knox credit. They played awfully well, especially in the first half,� Western coach Andy Weaver said. �They knocked down a lot of shots, and they were balanced. We were a little tentative.�
Al Davidson was the one Panther who wasn�t tentative. The 6-1 guard poured in 20 of a game-high 28 in the first 16 minutes to keep his team afloat.
�When you shoot the ball that well, you�d better be ahead at halftime because you don�t expect to continue at that pace. I think our familiarity with the gym and the rims probably helped us out,� Boldry said. �Our major focus was Davidson and (Josh) Nelson. I thought we did a good job on Davidson, but he just hit great shots.�
�Al carried us in the first half,� Weaver said. �Without his first half, we would�ve been even further behind.�
Western came out fighting at the beginning of the third period. Junior Bryce Parker scored seven points in just over a minute, and the Panthers outscored the Redskins 16-9 in the quarter. Nelson buried a 3 with seven seconds remaining, and Western trailed by eight going to the fourth.
�We picked up our game in the second half,� Weaver said. �To make up 16 points on a team like Knox is difficult.�
�We knew they�d come out after halftime and have a sense of urgency. It�s very rare that you get to this level and coast through a game,� Boldry said. �We knew our kids had to stay focused.�
As usual, Moore helped keep the focus clear, netting eight of his 27 points in the final three minutes. Moore scored on back-to-back layups after Western battled back to 54-50. He was fouled on the second one, and completed the three-point play to give Knox a nine-point cushion.
The Panthers wouldn�t go away, however, as Nelson connected on consecutive 3s before suffering a knee injury during a scramble for a rebound 20 seconds later. The Redskins clanked eight foul shots in the last period, but connected on 10 of their 12 tosses (four by Herr) in the final 1:25 to close out the victory.
Parker scored 16 and Nelson finished his last game with 13.
�If we could�ve played as well in the first half as we did in the second half, we would�ve had a shot,� Weaver said. �We missed a couple layups, and if we make a few more free throws, it would�ve been a little tighter. Unfortunately, the first half was too big of a hole.�
Herr registered 16 points and seven rebounds and Keiper tallied nine points and seven boards. Josh Lawrence had seven points and six rebounds, while Cory Masson notched five points and five assists.
�I thought the big key was rebounding. When they did miss early, we kept them off the boards and didn�t give them any easy baskets,� Boldry said. �We made it a little closer than it needed to be. It seems like we miss free throws in bunches. Sometimes that�s just the ebb and flow of the game.�
Regional semifinal
WESTERN (64): Josh Nelson 4 2-6 13, Mike Flora 0 2-2 2, Justin Foust 0 0-0 0, Kyle Walsh 1 0-0 3, Evan Eads 1 0-0 2, Al Davidson 10 4-7 28, Bryce Parker 4 7-9 16, Blayne Burkholder 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 18-28.
KNOX (69): Josh Sponaugle 1 0-0 3, Tyler Moore 9 9-13 27, Tyler Sennert 0 0-0 0, Cole Herr 4 7-10 16, Cory Masson 0 5-6 5, Kyle Keiper 3 1-2 9, Josh Lawrence 2 3-4 7, Stephon Nokes 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20 25-35.
Score by quarters
Western 14 26 42 64
Knox 22 41 50 59
3-point goals: Western 6 (Nelson 3, Parker, Walsh, Davidson), Knox 4 (Keiper 2, Herr, Sponaugle). Total fouls (fouled out): Western 30 (Parker, Flora, Foust), Knox 20.
Officials: Steve Kuachkoff and Bob Neff.
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