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Knoxville and Waukon treated fans to a good hard fought game, but it was Waukon who came away the winner of last night’s class 3A state tournament opener 61-50. Knoxville got in major foul trouble early on and had to play man-to-man defense instead of zone and that allowed Waukon’s Mary Halverson to get easy baskets in the second half, something that Coach Jim Utiermarkt was afraid would happen. Knoxville did not go quietly, however as the Panthers trimmed the lead from 12 to three with just over two minutes remaining but free throws and another 5-0 burst for Waukon sealed the win. Knoxville’s Sam Abens led all scorers with 28 points on seven-of-13 from long range tying her own school record and tied a state tournament record with three other players. Knoxville finishes the season 23-2.

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