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The Park Rapids Panthers hit 12-24 three point shots but the Knights still ground out a 72-67 win on Friday night in Barrett. The WCA Knights were already without their point guard Cam Anderson who is out for the season with a knee injury and tonight they were also missing last year's MVP Cole Anderson out with illness. Their other senior captain Jacob Strunk had to sit a big chunk of the game with foul trouble. Therefore, the rest of the Knights squad all had to rise to the challenge and they did. Coach Kraig Hunter said: "All ten of our players that were on the floor had key plays that helped us to the win. Park Rapids played an amazing game and we trailed a majority of the first half. We were down 34-48 at the half."
The Knights were able to build a 54-48 lead but the Panthers managed to come back and take a 62-60 lead. The Knights stayed poised, rattling off a 10-0 run to lead 70-62.
The Knights had very balanced scoring. Bryce Kjesbo had 14 points, Brett Amundson 12, Jacob Strunk 11, Nasir Dotts 10, Mitch Dewey 9, Sam Hanson 6, Roman Mihailovshi 4, and Ben Bye, Damon Sanstead and Isaac Kreft all scored 2 points.
"Bryce carried us in scoring the first half while Brett was huge for us in the second half," noted Coach Hunter. "Mitch hit some clutch shots at crucial times as well as leading us in steals. Jacob was steady as seniors should be and Nasir was back to himself all over the floor. Roman also had a key steal and two baskets at crucial times, Sam Hanson played stellar defense, gave us some momentum plays and iced the game for us with four free throws down the stretch. Isaac, Damon and Ben also all played big at different times in the game rotating in at the post position."
Amundson led the team with 8 rebounds, while Strunk had 5. Dotts led the team in assists with 7 while Strunk and Mihailovschi had 3 each. Steal leaders were Dewey with 4 and Dotts and Strunk with 3 each.
Scoring for the Panthers were Noah Morris with 17, Mason Yilenemi 15, Noah Larson 14, Matt Johanning 8, Caleb Arola 4, Landon Strasburg 3, Corey Johnson 3, and Hunter Harrison 3.
The Knights were 30-55 from the field for 55% and the Panthers were 23-50 for 46%. Both teams made 9-15 free throws.
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