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Knights secure conference championship

By Craig Olson, 02/27/20, 10:15PM CST

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The West Central Area Knights and the Brandon-Evansville Chargers came into the game as the top two teams in the Pheasant conference and played for the conference title in Evansville on Thursday. The Knights left little doubt as they led 45-24 at halftime and built a lead that was as big as 62-25 at one point in the game enrout to a 71-42 win to finish the Pheasant Conference as undefeated conference champions.

The Knights buried 14-28 threes and hit 25-50 shots overall.  They made 7-12 free throws and only turned the ball over eight times.  They held the Chargers to 10-27 shooting and forced them into 19 turnovers. The Chargers only made three 2-point baskets and hit 7-25 threes.  They did convert well at the line making 15-19 free throws.

Knights Coach Kraig Hunter said, "We knew they had just won 10 of their last 11 games and had 18 wins on the year. They are a very good team so we are grateful that we were able play the way we did and secure the conference championship."

The Knights had very balanced scoring again with seven players between 5 and 14 points.  Jack VanKempen had 14, Jacob Bright 13, Grant Beuckens 12, Gage Staples 12, Tate Christenson 9, Brady Reeve 6 and Ryder Staples 5.  VanKempen had a double double adding 10 rebounds, Staples had a great all-around game with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocked shots as did Bright with a team high 8 assists and 3 steals.  Beuckens had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals, Christenson had 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals, Reeve added 5 rebounds, and Ryder Staples 2 assists, a steal, and a rebound. 

Cole Anderson added 2 rebounds, Isaac Kreft 1 rebound, and Jacob Strunk 1 steal.

Tanner BItzan scored 19 points for Brandon-Evansville, Titus Fuller had 6, Kobe Reiland 6, Keagan Schiele 4, Tyler Bitzan 3, Jesse Perleberg 2, and Brian Lauthen 2.

The Knights are now 23-2 and will host Underwood Friday night. The Chargers finish their regular season at 18-8.