The Knoxville Girls Basketball Squad turned a sloppy first half into a dominating second half to pull away late and beat Albia 57-46 last night in a game heard live on AM 1320 and 95.3 KNIA.

The Panthers turned up the defense in the third quarter limiting the Lady Dees to just six points. Coach Jim Uitermarkt tells KNIA/KRLS Sports while the game was not a thing of beauty, he was glad to get the win. Ashley Hawkshead led three Panthers in double figures with 16 points. The Knoxville boys used solid bench play to beat Albia 80-71. The Panther’s bench outscored Albia’s bench 20-1, and Coach Jeff Larson told KNIA/KRLS that was the key. Nolan Wallace led Knoxville with 15 points as the Panther boys are 1-0 on the season and 1-0 in the South Central Conference while the girls conference record is the same as the boys with a 2-0 overall record. Knoxville travels to Oskaloosa on Friday.