Knoch boys dominate West Mifflin in WPIAL 1st round

By: Michael Love
Friday, February 14, 2025 | 12:01 AM

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The Knoch boys basketball team entered the WPIAL playoffs with the third-best scoring defense in Class 4A at 46.1 points allowed a game.

The Knights were on their defensive game, and then some, in a first-round contest against West Mifflin on Friday at Knoch High School.

The No. 12 Titans were limited to just four points in the second half, and the No. 5 Knights, led by a 30-point effort from junior Jackson Bauman, pulled away for a 56-23 victory.

The win sets up a quarterfinal matchup Wednesday at No. 4 Avonworth.

“We kind of said that no one was allowed to talk about Avonworth,” Knoch coach Alan Bauman said. “We had to keep our full focus on West Mifflin. Avonworth is a sold team that is well-coached. They have a winning DNA over there.

“You don’t want to take playoff wins lightly. Every time you get a playoff win, you want to enjoy it. For us to give up just four points in the second half and to finish the game on a 55-15 run, we need to celebrate that. We want them to enjoy this, but we will soon turn the page and get ready for Avonworth.”

Knoch returns to the quarterfinals and has another chance to advance to the final four. Last year, the Knights met No. 1 Lincoln Park in the round of eight and suffered an 81-58 loss.

“It is really motivating that we are in the exact same spot as last year,” Bauman said. “It is exciting because we are going to play a great team.”

A Bauman layup with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter put Knoch ahead 54-23 and enacted the 30-point mercy rule running clock.

Junior Teegan Finucan finished with 12 points. Nine came in the second half.

Bauman responded after having to leave the game for a short time in the first quarter when he suffered a bloody lip battling on the floor for a loose ball.

He had 20 points at halftime and added 10 more in the second half.

“I think it was a matter of me calming down with the expectation of the playoff game,” Bauman said.

“Coming back after I busted my lip, it motivated me to get back into it. We needed a run, and I was able to make some plays for my team.”

Knoch limited West Mifflin’s leading scorer, senior guard Daven Reynolds, to just three points. All three came in the first quarter.

Reynolds came in averaging nearly 20 points.

“He is such a dynamic scorer,” Coach Bauman said. “We wanted him going left and wanted to contest everything. We thought if we let him go right, he was really going to control the game. We were able to disrupt his rhythm.”

Arnez Logan, a sophomore forward, led the Titans with six points.

West Mifflin, which finished its season 8-15 overall, struggled from the free-throw line, going 4 for 13 in the first half and 6 of 19 for the game.

The Titans also committed 17 turnovers and found themselves in foul trouble most of the night.

Reynolds and fellow starters Jose Perez and Julian Dewberry each picked up their fourth fouls in the first half of the third quarter.

Dewberry and Perez fouled out early in the fourth.

Despite all of that, Titans coach Hal Minford was happy with the way his guys fought.

“We got out early and then just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop,” he said. “(With) 19 at halftime, we played their game. They run a 2-2-1 zone to slow things down, and we played into it.

“From where we were at in September to where we’re at now, I am proud of these guys. I am a first-year coach, and I have five seniors and three of which were my middle school students. I’ve known these kids a long time. They have created a winning attitude at West Mifflin for these young guys to move forward. They came and worked every single day, and we got better as the season went on.”

Knoch started out cold from the field as Knights shooters missed their first eight field goals, and West Mifflin built an 8-1 lead.

Bauman broke that early drought with a layup at the 1:05 mark of the opening frame.

The Titans led by two at the end of the first, but the Knights scrapped all the way back.

Bauman converted a three-point play — a layup and a free throw — to give Knoch its first lead of the game, 14-13, with 5:55 left until halftime.

Bauman scored 15 of his 30 points in the second quarter. He sank two free throws with 2:06 until the break to put the Knights up by six.

After Perez hit 1 of 2 from the foul line, Knights sophomore reserve Roman DeFelice struck from the left wing with 7 seconds on the clock. His 3-pointer put Knoch ahead 27-19 at the break.

“We didn’t panic,” Coach Bauman said. “We came out tight, but we stayed with it. All year, our defense has been driving us. We found a rhythm to get a lead, and we went from there.”

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: Knoch, West Mifflin