KNIGHTS KEEP PROTECTING THE CASTLE

By Ty Bartell

AKRON OH- A strong team with a strong schedule this season, The Archbishop Hoban Knights girls basketball team has shown tremendous success against some of the state’s top programs. At home The Knights have been an unstoppable force, with a perfect 5-0 clip at Barry Gym heading into Saturday, Hoban has beaten programs such as Gilmour Academy and Toledo Central Catholic at The Castle this season! Next up on the list? The Toledo Rogers Rams! Hoban opened up the gates early with a scoring outburst from The Knights with Niera Stevens, Finley Kennedy and MacKenzie Edingburgh setting the tone to take a 21-8 lead after the first quarter.

The second quarter was much more even, with both teams methodically trying to score the basketball through some ferocious defense! Rogers would get the edge in the quarter 11-10; however, Hoban held the 31-19 advantage heading to the halftime locker room.
At the start of the third quarter, The Rams were on a mission and put together an incredible quarter, spearheaded by Breayah Jefferson who had 13 points in the third as Rogers outscored Hoban 24-18, trimming the deficit, as Hoban led 49-43.  The Knights would get back on track in the fourth, locking things down defensively and closing the game out with a 15-9 fourth to secure their 13th win by a final of 64-52.

The Player of the game was “Zig” Niera Stevens who finished with a career-high 22 points while also grabbing 9 rebounds! Other key contributors for The Knights include Mackenzie Edingburgh who finished with 15 points and 2 rebounds, Finley Kennedy who had 13 points and 3 rebounds, Devin Harris had a 9 point and 9 rebound game and MaKenzie Grant played another tremendous defensive game, while also notching 5 points and 9 rebounds as well! For Rogers, they were led by Breayah Jefferson who had an outstanding game-high 30 points followed by Ni’Rah Clark who had a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds!

Hoban (13-2) will now focus on their final road game of the regular season when they travel to Holland to battle The Springfield Blue Devils on Saturday, January 27th with a 1 p.m. tip-off. The Knights will then return home on Wednesday, January 31st to start their first of five consecutive home games to close out the season. Stay updated with Hoban basketball all season long with live games, scores, stats, stories and more on YSN!