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The #1 seeded West Central Area Knights defeated the #8 seeded KMS Saints 89-53 in the opening round of the 6A playoffs on Thursday in Barrett. The Knights hit 32-58 shots for 55% and made 14-33 threes for 43%. They made 11-18 free throws and out-rebounded the Saints 39-22. "I thought our rebounding effort was great", said Knight Coach Kraig Hunter. The Saints shot 20-51 for 39%, hit only 3-20 threes and made 10-14 free throws.
Hunter said, "It was a great crowd and fun playoff atmosphere. Once again we had good balance and contributions from a lot of people. Besides the rebounding, the other big key was holding Alex Call who is averaging 25 ppg on the season to two points. Gage Staples and Jack VanKempen with the help of their teammates did a good job limiting any good looks for him."
Leaders for the Knights were Grant Beuckens with 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals; Gage Staples 21 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists; Jack VanKempen had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds; Tate Christenson had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and took 2 charges; Jacob Bright had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals; Ryder Staples had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Nathaniel Junker had 4 points; Brady Reeve had 3 points and 4 rebounds; Xander Bontjes had 2 points, Cole Anderson 1 assist, Isaac Kreft 1 assist, and Jacob Strunk 1 steal.
Scoring for the Saints were Isaac Call 14 points, Titan Norton 12, Isaac Rudningen 8, Christ Moist 7, Jacob Anderson 3, Gavin Thorson 3, Gage Thorson 2, Kyler Johnson 2, Alex Call 2.
The Knights move to 25-2 and will face Ashby at 1 pm at UMM on Saturday, March 7.