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The West Central Area Knights picked up a 74-46 road win in Battle Lake with some balanced scoring. The Knights jumped out to an 11-2 lead but some hot shooting from the Battlers Drew Johnson enabled Battle Lake to take a 21-20 lead. The Knights ended the half on a 17-4 run to lead 37-25 at the half and then they started the second half on a 32-9 run to build their biggest lead to 35 points at 69-34.
"We did a lot of things well tonight", said Knight Coach Kraig Hunter. "We've continued to force turnovers and do a good job on the offensive boards giving us more opportunities. I thought we pushed well in transition and when it wasn't there, we ran our half-court offense much better tonight. We also capitalized at the free throw line attacking the basket and converting a high number of free throws."
The Knights made 26-54 field goals for 48% and made 8-19 threes for 42%. From the line they made 14-17 for 82%. The Battlers made 16-44 shots for 36% but they were hot from the outside scoring 30 of their points from three point land going 10-22. They were 4-6 from the free throw line. The Knights outrebounded the Battlers 36-23.
"Ultimately, too many turnovers throughout the game and too many second chance opportunities led to some easy shots for the Knights, and they made us pay,” stated Battle Lake Head Coach Tyler Owen. “It seems that for about 5-10 minutes each night, we're a really good team. The problem is that when things go wrong, mistakes start to snowball and lead to additional mistakes that we just can't have if we want to win games. We can take a lot of good from this game, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't start working hard to limit the mistakes that we're making."
Leaders for the Knights were Grant Beuckens with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals; Ryder Staples had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists; Tate Christenson had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 assists; Brady Reeve scored 9 points, dominated the boards with 12 rebounds, and had 3 steals. Cole Anderson had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Also scoring for the Knights were Jacob Strunk with 4 points, Nathaniel Junker 3, Nasir Dotts 3, Xander Bontjes 2, Cam Anderson 2, Tyler Biss 2.
Scoring for the Battlers were Drew Johnson with 21 points on seven 3-pointers. Brady VanErp had 9, Drew Durbin 4, Nick Carter-Fischer 4, Owen Buehler 3, Kayne Cameron 3, and Bricker Bladow 2.
"Drew Johnson is one of the best, if not the best shooters in the area,” added Coach Owen. “When he's on, he rarely misses. He kept us in the game tonight in the first half, and it was fun to watch."