Clarksville, TN – With their complete team playing together for the first time, the Kenwood Knights held court at home and dealt the Ensworth Tigers their first second loss of the season, 76-72.
Ensworth Tiger Andrew Fleming came into the game averaging over 40 points. He was held to 24 points against the Knights and fouled out with 2:23 remaining in the game.
“I thought we played pretty well. I thought we did a good job defending their best players. I thought that was a priority for us,” Knights head coach John Stigall said. “That was the first time we actually had everybody together coming back from injury and football. Literally, we didn’t even have a practice with everybody healthy. We got a little ways to go. It’s a good win for us.”Daniel Norl led the Knights with 28 points. He got help above the rim from Jimario Rivers who scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
“I thought Daniel, up until the end, I thought he was very under control and didn’t turn the ball over very much, which is big for him,” Stigall said. “Jimarrio just gives us a completely new dimension with his length, and his size, and ability to finish at the rim and rebound too. This was his first game with us. His first game back.”
In addition to Fleming, the Tigers had three total players who scored in double figures.
Jordan Bone scored 18 points and Dermond Cambridge added 15.
The Tigers opened the game with a 5-0 run, but it did not take long for the Knights to take control. They were down 9-8 when Norl and Rivers combined for a Knights 7-0 run that included a two-handed dunk by Rivers.
The Knights finished the first period outscoring the Tigers 15-11. By pulling down twice as many rebounds as the Tigers, 14-7, they were able to extend their lead to 30-21 by halftime.
The Tigers actually outscored the Knights in both the third and fourth periods, but not by enough points to overcome the Knights first half lead.
It was as close as the Tigers would get before the end of the game. Still dominating the boards, Rivers scored 6 straight points, including a one-handed jam along the baseline that extended the Knights lead back to 12 points.
Using fouls, the Tigers clawed their way back to within 6 with 19 seconds left in the game. Matthew Norl was the last Knight to be fouled.
After he made 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 76-69, Tiger’s Cambridge launched a long 3-pointer which found the net as the last seconds ticked off the game clock.
Box Score
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
Kenwood Knights | 15 | 15 | 24 | 22 | 76 |
Ensworth Tigers | 11 | 10 | 25 | 26 | 72 |
Kenwood Knights:
Daniel Norl 28, Jimario Rivers 22, Matthew Norl 9, DeAndre Radcliffe 2, Angel Hall 6, Kenya Mosley 5, Legraa Harriston 4.
Ensworth Tigers:
Andrew Fleming 24, Jordan Bone 18, Dermond Cambridge 15, Mick Rolfe 7, Will Bright 6, Daniel Mayer 2