Inside game powers Indians to LHC win over Panthers

By JIM GRIES

OSKALOOSA — Without Knoxville’s 6-foot-5 junior center Luke Moore in the lineup, Oskaloosa controlled the backboards and routed the Panthers 64-48 in Little Hawkeye Conference action Friday night.

With no Knoxville player able to control 6-6 junior Malaki Wills and 6-3 senior Alex Knoot, the Indians (6-7, 4-6) grabbed 47 rebounds with 20 coming on the offensive end. Wills and Knoot both had double-doubles as Wills had 17 points and 11 rebounds while Knoot, who had his second double-double in three games, had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Oskaloosa wanted to make sure Wills was involved in the inside game and he responded with a solid effort.

“I felt we had a height advantage with Luke Moore out of the lineup and Mike Jacks not playing a lot tonight, we really wanted to pound it in there to Malaki and let him work down low,” Oskaloosa coach Bryan White said. “I thought the guys did much better job of that in the second half.

“I thought Alex (Knoot) really came in there and gave us a big lift with his rebounding. Anytime you get second or third shots, it’s definitely to the offense advantage.”

Knoot, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win over South Tama on Jan. 22, had five of his six offensive rebounds in the second half as Oskaloosa scored three baskets directly from offensive put backs.

“Malaki and Erik (McGee) really put in a lot tonight and our team goal was to come out be aggressive and attack the boards,” Knoot said. “We came out fired up and ready to go. It feels pretty good to get a double-double against Knoxville. We put in a new offense just to get him (Wills) the ball.”

The Indians held the lead throughout the first quarter on the Panthers (4-11, 3-9) until Kaleb Robuck hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the contest at 12.

Oskaloosa came out to begin the second quarter by scoring six unanswered points on free throws by Jake Osborn and Mitch Tucker, a basket by Wills and a driving layup by Tucker.

Knoxville never recovered after that barrage, although it did cut the lead to 21-19 with 1:48 remaining in the first half.

But baskets by Wills and Jon Eveland were followed by a steal and a three-point play by Alex Christenson extended the margin to 28-19 with less than a minute left in the half.

The Panthers never threatened after that.

Oskaloosa is back on the court tonight when it entertains Centerville in a non-conference matchup.



Oskaloosa 64, Knoxville 48

Knox 12 10 11 15 — 48

Osky 12 16 17 19 — 64

KNOXVILLE (48) — Blake McWilliams 1 1-2 3, Jason Ryan 1 4-10 6, Kaleb Robuck 3 0-0 9, Jamie VanderVeer 1 8-11 10, Lance Daugherty 2 0-0 5, Jared Kendall 1 0-0 2, Cory Collins 2 1-2 6, C.J. Wright 2 3-4 7. Totals 13 17-29 48.

3-point goals — 5 (Robuck 3, Collins, Daugherty). Fouled out — Robuck, Collins, Daugherty). Total fouls — 25. Turnovers — 15.

OSKALOOSA (64) — Jon Eveland 3 2-2 8, Erik McGee 2 0-1 4, Mitch Tucker 3 2-4 9, Alex Knoot 4 2-2 10, Malaki Wills 6 5-10 17, Jake Osborn 0 1-2 1, Alex Christenson 3 1-2 7, Tyler Hafner 0 2-2 2, Jake McCrea 2 0-0 5, Szymon Waclawik 0 00 0, Nathan Veldhuizen 0 0-2 0, Adam Rowley 0 1-2 1, Josh DeJoode 0 0-0 0, Emory White 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 16-29 84.

3-point goals — 2 (Tucker, McCrea). Rebounds — 47 (Wills 11, Knoot 10, McGee 9, Eveland 5, Christenson 5, Tucker 3, McCrea 2, Rowley 1, Osborn 1), Assists — 14 (Eveland 2, McGee 2, Knoot 2, Christenson 2, McCrea 2, Wills 2, Osborn, Tucker). Steals — 8 (Tucker 2, Knoot 2, Eveland, Osborn, Christenson, Veldhuizen). Block — 1 (Wills). Total fouls — 24. Turnovers — 7.

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