The Arrows led 24-19 at the half when the Knights came out on a 6-0 run to take a 25-24 lead to make it a back and forth game most of the 2nd half.  After a 35-35 tie the Arrows were able to open up a bit of a lead with some hot 3-point shooting from their bench players Derrek Bartz and Carson Spangler. 

The Knights scored with eighteen seconds left to pull within 53-54 and forced another Arrow turnover but weren't able to convert.  Hunter Norby sealed the win with two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to give the Arrows the 56-53 won.

“It would be difficult to find any player who had a better span of time in a basketball game than Hunter Norby did in the last five seconds,” noted Ashby Head Coach John Holsten.  “In that sequence Hunter secured a defensive rebound, knocked down two free throws, and stole the inbound pass to end the game.  Also, we had significant contributions off the bench from Derrek Bartz, Bobby Anderson and Carson Spangler.”

Both teams played good defense as the Arrows hit 21-54 shots for 39% but they did hit 10-28 threes.  The Knights shot 18-51 for only 35% and only 4-22 from the 3-point line for 18%.  The Knights did a good job getting to the free throw line and hit 13-20.  The Arrows hit 4-5 free throws.

Knight Coach Kraig Hunter said, "Considering we missed 8 or 9 easy shots in the lane and shot 4-22 from the three along with some other first game early season mistakes, we were only one to two possessions away from beating the Section 6 favorite.  So that part is encouraging. We know we're good enough.  However, we do have to improve on some of our mistakes and we will."

Leaders for the Knights were Ryder Staples with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals; Grant Beuckens had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Cole Anderson had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals; Brady Reeve added 7 points; Tate Christenson had 6 points, 3 steals, and led the Knights with 11 rebounds and also in assists with 3. Xander Bontjes added 4 points. Jacob Strunk had 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Scoring for the Arrows were Jaden Norby 15, Torin Olson 11, Jacob Cook 10, Hunter Norby 7, Carson Spangler 6, Derrek Bartz 5, and Ashton Ecker 2.  Cook also grabbed 11 rebounds, recording a double-double for the Arrows.  Ecker added 4 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals.

“We had several poor series on offense,” said Coach Holsten.  “Credit a strong effort defensively by the Knights for that.  We didn’t guard dribble penetration or screens very well on many Knight possessions.  Credit their offensive execution for that.  A most revealing game stat was that they shot 20 free throws to our 5.  We were fortunate to win and we’ve got to get a lot better.”

West Central Area will travel to Graceville on Thursday for a contest against CGB and Ashby is at Underwood on Friday night.