The Knoxville Girls Basketball Squad got back to its winning ways in the South Central Conference with a 53-32 win over Albia, while the Panther boys suffered their first loss of the season 71-56 to the Blue Demons as heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The girls played excellent defense all night, limiting Albia to single digits in each quarter. While the offense struggled at times for the Panthers, Coach Jim Uitermarkt told KNIA/KRLS Sports their defense was solid all night and was happy to get the win.

Uitermarkt:
“Four single digit quarters and that’s about as good as you can get defensively. Thankfully our defense was there the whole game, offense hit and miss, but we’ll take a road win by 20 points anytime.”

Maggie Wilkins led all scorers with 30 points, her 5th 30 point game of the season. Emma Dunkin scored seven of her nine points in the second half. In the nightcap, the Knoxville Boys Basketball Squad fell behind early to Albia and could never recover trailing by as many as 21 points in the second half in what was billed as a showdown for 1st place in the South Central Conference. The Panthers did get the deficit trimmed to ten on two occasions but could get no closer. Panthers Coach Jeff Larson told KNIA/KRLS Sports they need to get to the level of teams like Albia moving forward.

Larson:
“They hit some big threes and got out in front of us and just couldn’t catch up and they do a lot of good things defensively and help out. We’re not at their level yet, I have to be honest, but we’ll get there and keep working.”

Kieren Nichols led the Panthers with 21 points, while Luke Keitges scored 14 and Mike Hudson added ten. The girls are now 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in the South Central Conference, while the boys fall to 5-1 and also are 4-1 in the conference. Both Panther squads have little time to rest as they have a matinee affair with Newton at Knoxville High School today. You can hear the call on 95.3 KNIA beginning with the pregame at 1:15.