On Monday, January 20th, the Lady Knights battled the Little Miami Panthers in a non-conference game. Senior Ella Schmidt filled the statbook with 6 steals, 4 rebounds, and 16 points shooting 8 of 11 from the field. 

“I think what led to me scoring so many points was the rivalry between the teams and that we were playing against people we know made it a tough game,” said Schmidt. Schmidt’s great performance ultimately wasn’t enough to pull the Lady Knights through a 50-48 loss to the Panthers.

On Saturday, January 25th, the Lady Knights played Walnut Hills, an offensive ECC powerhouse. The Eagles have 3 of the top 5 scorers in the ECC, as well as the top 2 leaders in steals, which means they get it done on both ends of the court. Despite 8 points by senior Summer Bush, and 9 points by freshman Riley Wells, the Lady Knights fell to the Eagles 72-31. This brings the Ladies to an overall record of 5-12, and a conference record of 3-8.

The Men’s varsity team traveled to Loveland on Tuesday, January 21, to take on the Tigers, an ECC rival. The Knights were able to keep it a close game in the first half, trailing the Tigers just 20-17. The Knights were led in scoring by senior Jack McHugh with 11 points. Despite McHugh’s efforts, the Tigers pulled away in the second half and took down the Knights by a final score of 46-33.

On Friday, January 24, the Knights had another ECC matchup against the Withrow Tigers. The Tigers came out hot in the first half, taking a dominant 22-15 lead. The Knights rallied behind senior PJ Marchal, who had a season-high 14 points, shooting 6 of 10 from the field (2 of 3 on three point shots). Also, the Knights had good ball movement which led to 8 assists compared 5 assists from the Tigers. The Knights battled back in the second half, making it a one possession game in the fourth quarter. However, the Knights missed a last second shot and were unable to tie the game, falling to the Tigers by a final score of 36-33, bringing their conference record to 2-8.

The Knights finished up the week with a non-conference game against their rivals, the Little Miami Panthers, on Saturday, January 25. The Knights wanted to rebound from a loss the night before, and had their sights set on beating the struggling Panthers, who are last in the Southwest Ohio Conference (SWOC) standings. 

The Knights were led by seniors Cody Lockwood and Dylan Barnett who, combined, shot an astounding 12 of 14 on three point shots. Lockwood made 7 three point shots and scored a career-high 25 points.

“My teammates were finding me when I was open and hyping me up the whole game. It felt like someone was calling me,” Lockwood said.

Barnett made 5 three point shots and scored a season-high 15 points. The Knights defeated the Panthers in commanding fashion, with a final score of 66-45, bringing their overall record to 4-13. 

The Knights look to keep the momentum going with one game this week on Friday, January 31, at Walnut Hills where they’ll take on the Eagles, another ECC team. “We’ll try to bring the same energy and effort we had versus Little Miami to practice this week and hopefully it can carry over against Walnut Hills,” Lockwood said.