STELLAR KNIGHTS DEFENSE EARNS THE WIN
By Ty Bartell
AKRON OH- For the first time since December 10th of last year, The Archbishop Hoban Knights girls basketball team returned home to Barry Gym at The Castle. Undefeated at home this season, The Knights looked to keep the streak rolling when they hosted The Lutheran East Falcons Thursday night.
A higher scoring quarter than usual ensued and both teams were exchanging rapid buckets in transition through the final moments of the first quarter. Hoban would see themselves with a slight edge over Lutheran East 18-12 after the opening quarter. A lopsided second quarter made all the difference in separating The Knights from The Falcons, as a 16-4 second help pad the Hoban lead to 34-16 at the halftime buzzer.
Out of the half, The Falcons threw their best offensive punch at The Knights yet; however, Hoban was ready and had a potent counterpunch of offense themselves when they outscored Lutheran East 23-14 in the third to take full control of the ballgame 56-29 heading to the fourth quarter. Hoban rested most of its starters in the fourth and was able to cruise to the 71-45 win over The Falcons, getting to double-digits in the win column with win number 10 for The Knights this season!
Players of the Game went to MaKenzie Grant and Taylyn Banta! Grant was stellar on the boards and slashing to the bucket as she finished with the double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Banta filled up the box score once again, finishing with 12 points while distributing the rock like a true point guard, including a beautiful one-handed full court dime by the sophomore! Interviews with both Makenzie Grant and Taylyn Banta can be found below! Niera Stevens was also impactful in the box score as “Zig” ended the evening with 10 points.
Finley Kennedy also got loose for 9 points in the Hoban win as a total of 10 different Knights scored in the game! On Lutheran East side, Dakota Porter led all scorers with 13 points and Janae Smith followed her with 11 points. A total of six different players grabbed 4 rebounds a piece for The Falcons.
Hoban (10-1) will go on a three game road stint, starting with The Laurel Gators (6-6) on Wednesday, January 10th with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. Lutheran East (5-5) will now go back home to try and get a win against St. Martin de Porres Lions (6-5) on Monday, January 8th.
