Knoch boys pull away from Burrell for 6th straight victory

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 | 9:54 PM

In an early-season battle between two of the top boys basketball teams in Section 1-4A, Jackson Bauman led Knoch with 26 points and the visiting Knights pulled away from Burrell in the second half for a 58-37 victory Tuesday.

“We knew we had to come in and match their energy,” said Bauman, who added seven rebounds and was complemented on the scoresheet by 7-footer Zane Pacek (12 points) and 6-7 forward Derrick Lang (nine points).

“We knew they were going to come in with a lot of excitement. They jumped on us early, but we were able to battle back. It was a big win for us.”

Knoch won its sixth in a row since a season-opening loss to Moon on Nov. 30 and kept pace at the top of the section at 2-0. The Knights face Highlands on Friday.

“We’re happy with where we’re at right now,” Bauman said. “We’re excited and confident but not overconfident. It’s just on to the next. We’re not worried about anything else. Our focus is only on Highlands on Friday.”

Burrell, which was coming off a 44-32 win over Highlands in its section opener last Friday, fell to 3-3 overall, 1-1 in the section. The Bucs will take on Deer Lakes on Friday.

“We’re a younger team with a lot of inexperience,” Burrell coach Mike Fantuzzo said.

“To come in here and play a team like Knoch this early — they are No. 1 for a reason — I really think we battled with them. We held them to 58 points when they are putting up 80 on 6A schools. I was proud of our effort, and I saw us do a lot of good things. In the long run, though, Knoch just made more plays than we did.”

Burrell played Tuesday’s game without starter Ryan Wass and sixth man Adam Wass. Both were under the weather.

Senior Tucker Bitar led Burrell with 17 points. Only five of his 17 came in the second half.

Gavyn Orr, who found himself on the bench for much of the second quarter with three fouls, added 10 points for the Bucs.

Knoch, ahead 33-24 at the break, led by 14 on a pair of occasions in the third quarter before ending the frame up 16 at 45-29 on a jumper from Teegan Finucan with 7 seconds left on the clock.

Finucan scored all seven of his points in the third after being shut out in the first half.

“I thought we got back to being us in the second half,” Knoch coach Alan Bauman said.

“We were a little flat to begin the game. We really buckled down defensively and only gave up 13 points in the second half. That is our style of defense. We settled in and stopped fouling so much. We kept hitting the boards and stayed down and defending.”

Knoch used its size and athleticism to control the boards in both halves.

The teams committed a combined 12 fouls (Burrell seven, Knoch five) in the first quarter, and both were shooting automatic free throws in the final two minutes of the period.

But the second quarter was a little cleaner as only two fouls were whistled, both on Knoch.

Burrell jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, led by a pair of baskets from Orr.

But Knoch rallied to take the lead at 10-9 and was ahead 15-13 at the end of the first.

Bauman had 12 of the Knights’ 15 in the opening stanza.

Knoch opened the second on an 11-4 run to extend its advantage to 26-17. Bauman hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter with 2:45 left to give the Knights their biggest lead of the first half at 31-20.

“Knoch and Burrell is a rivalry,” coach Bauman said.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Burrell’s coaches are great, and they had a good game plan. We came in and stayed the course. It was step by step and play by play, and we just did a good job of staying with who we are.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Knoch