The Knoxville Basketball Squads were swept in a Saturday afternoon double header by Newton, with the girls falling 64-56 and the boys going down in overtime 71-69 as heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The girls trailed for much of the game allowing Newton second chance points and out rebounding the Panthers 43-24. Knoxville was down by as many as 12 points in the second half and fought back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter, but Newton found a second wind and closed the game on a 14-5 run after trailing 51-50 with three minutes left in the game. Knoxville Coach Jim Uitermarkt told KNIA/KRLS Sports Knoxville’s lack of an inside game was one of the reasons his team could not finish.

Uitermarkt:
“We let girls get the ball in the lane and when we closed out on that they lobbed the ball over us and we don’t have the height to stop that. We have to stop allowing the ball to get in the lane, we stop cutters, and stop letting the ball in the lane and get better that way.”

Maggie Wilkins scored 20 points to lead Knoxville while Emma Dunkin had 12 points. The girls may be short handed Monday against Pella Christian as Norah Pearson went down with a leg injury in the third quarter. Pearson missed the rest of the game and her condition and availability for Monday’s game is unknown.

In the boys contest, the Panthers allowed an eight foot jump shot by Newton’s Jake Ingle with two seconds left in overtime and fell 71-69. The Panthers got behind by as many as 15 points in the second half before clawing back to take the lead multiple times late in the fourth quarter. After forcing overtime, Knoxville and Newton traded the lead four times before the Cardinals’ game clinching shot just before the buzzer sounded. Kieren Nichols scored 15 of his team high 24 points in the second half and overtime, Spencer Hixson had 22 and Luke Keitges scored 21 points for the Panthers. The girls fall to 7-2 while the boys are 5-2. The Panthers only get a day to rest up as Knoxville is back at it on Monday hosting Pella Christian. The Panthers girls beat the Eagles last season in overtime, while the boys lost 86-66. You can hear the action on both KNIA and KRLS starting with the pregame at 6:00 and the girls game tipping off at 6:30.