EDDYVILLE — What a way to come out of the holiday break. Two teams with South Central Conference title aspirations tipped it off in Eddyville Tuesday night when the Knoxville Panthers challenged the league leading EBF Rockets. The battle raged for four quarters and when the smoke had cleared, the Panthers gained a 75-72 victory and a share of the league lead. The Panthers, Rockets and the Albia Blue Demons are all 5-1 which means that there will be a lot of excitement ahead for the fans of those teams.
It appeared that the Panthers had the game wrapped up when Lincoln Norris swished a pair of free throws for a 73-66 Panther lead with 22 second left in the game. Maybe not. Landon Glosser drained a triple with 15 seconds left and the Rockets quickly fouled Drake Larson to put him on the line with 12 second left. Larson notched one of two free throws for a 74-69 Knoxville lead. EBF pushed the ball down the floor and Jack Bunnell fired from deep in the corner by the band room. Splash! The lead was cut to 74-72 with six ticks left on the clock. Again Larson was fouled and once more he hit one of two shots for a 75-72 lead with two second left. EBF put the ball in play and a desperation shot from beyond mid-court fell short.
“I was feeling pretty comfortable with a seven-point lead with 22 seconds left,” Knoxville coach Troy Pearson said. “But suddenly things got a little tight. It is a really big win for our guys. We gave up some big threes, but Carson Uitermarkt hit two huge threes for us in the last two minutes. Our kids handled adversity well and our depth allowed us to use more pressure. I really feel that our depth was the difference in the game.”
The first quarter was a back and forth affair with slashing drives of Jesse Cornelison and Brooks Moore along with the inside presence of Bunnell allowed the Rockets to tie the score at 14 with two minutes left in the first stanza.
The Panthers hit a 6-2 run in the final two minutes of the quarter to gain a 20-16 lead at the break. Landon Norris, Connor Willis and Gabe Clark led that run with Clark’s shot coming at the buzzer. Lincoln Norris opened the game for Knoxville with three consecutive triples.
The second period was a bump and grind affair with the Rockets muscling their way to a 30-28 halftime lead. Moore knocked down three baskets in the quarter and Bunnell added a pair of buckets.
The Panthers made a statement to open the second half as their big guy, Kaiden Smith, sliced through the lane and rammed home a tomahawk slam that registered about 7.2 on the Richter scale. The joint was alive and the score was once more tied.
It was Bunnell that answered the slam with an inside basket and he added three more inside shots in the third period to keep the Rockets close at 47-45 going into the final frame.
Knoxville kicked the fourth quarter off with a three ball by Jay Kellar and a drive through the lane by Larson for a 52-45 lead. Moore answered with a slam and a knifing drive to the hoop followed by a pair of inside buckets and a pair of free throws by Bunnell to keep EBF close at 59-55 with three minutes left in the game. Triples by Cornelison and Moore narrowed the Panther lead to 62-61.
Uitermarkt stepped up with a pair of monster threes for a seven-point Panther lead with 44 seconds to go, but EBF still had a little gas in the tank. Bunnell powered his way to the hoop for two and Moore canned a three to set the stage for the wild final flurry.
“Knoxville is a great three-point shooting team,” Rocket coach Travis Stout said. “We had to work really hard to try and contain that and they still hit some big ones. I felt that in the first half we were not moving well and we gave them too many second chance points. We got in a hole, but the kids kept battling. I can’t fault the effort. A good team will make you pay for your mistakes and Knoxville did that.”
Knoxville was led by the Norris boys. The freshman, Lincoln drained 22 points while the junior, Landon added 17 points. Smith was also in double digits with 10 tallies. Bunnell had the game of his life as a Rocket by pounding home 27 points and Moore chipped in with 23. Cornelison was in double digits as well with 13 points.
Things will get hot in the SCC in the next week as Knoxville hosts Albia on Friday and EBF hosts Albia on Tuesday. It will be a basketball junkies delight.
Knoxville 20 8 19 28 - 75
EBF 16 14 15 27 - 72
EBF scoring (FG FTM-FTA Pts) – Jesse Cornelison 6 0-0 13, Landon Glosser 2 0-0 5, Karic Stout 2 0-0 4, Jack Bunnell 12 2-2 27, Brooks Moore 10 0-0 23. Team 32 2-2 72. Three-point goals (6) Moore 3, Bunnell 1, Glosser 1, Cornelison 1.
Knoxville Scoring – Lincoln Norris 6 5-7 22, Landon Norris 7 1-2 17, Kaiden Smith 4 2-4 10, Drake Larson 2 3-6 7, Carson Uitermarkt 3 0-0 8, Jay Kellar 1 0-0 3, Gabe Clark 1 1-2 3, Connor Willis 1 0-0 2.
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