Wednesday's games against Mannahouse marked the final regular season home game for the Knappa Loggers. With a crowded gym and much fanfare, the home teams delivered three dominant victories.
After a shaky start, the junior varsity team went on a 17-0 run to take firm control of the game. The dominant performance allowed for many players to get involved, including first-year player Daniel Toliver. The JV cruised on to a 48-16 win to start the night.
Next up came the girl's team who only built off of the momentum of the JV victory before them.
In arguably their best game of the season, the Lady Loggers put together a team performance against the all-freshman Mannahouse team. Senior Hannah Dietrichs led the way in scoring with 10 points followed closely by Sophomore Ariana Miller who scored 9 points and hauled in 12 rebounds.
The Lady Loggers found success with great ball movement which allowed them to find open shots. The good offense showed in their season-high 52 points.
On defense, the Loggers were feisty, forcing 32 turnovers. Freshman Alondra Pina led the way with 6 steals for the Lady Loggers. They would hold Mannahouse to 35 points on the night in their 52-35 victory.
Knappa was able to build enough of a lead to get exchange student Laura Jeka into the game. Jeka had never played basketball before attending high school in America this year and has spent most of her time on the junior varsity.
Jeka was fouled as time expired giving her a chance to shoot a pair of free throws. The student section exploded with excitement when she sunk the first of the two shots. "It was awesome to get to see Laura play and score in a varsity game," Dietrichs said after the game.
For Mannahouse, Reaiah Hall led all scorers with 19 points. "They are a typical young team," Mannahouse coach Nicole Damazio said of her team after the game. "They've improved a lot over the season. They run the floor, hustle and work hard." She also added that she was learning how to coach her young team just as much as they are learning what it takes to play at the varsity level.
On the boy's varsity side, the game meant more than just senior night. With three games remaining in the regular season, both Mannahouse and Knappa controlled their own destiny in pursuit of the regular season league title. A win for Knappa meant clutching at least a share of the regular season title, while a win for Mannahouse would keep them in contention for the outright title.
The Knappa boys did not disappoint their rambunctious student section. The Loggers battled through "really good defense" by Mannahouse to cap the night with a 61-38 victory.
Mannahouse played aggressively inside on defense often double or triple teaming 6-10 senior Logan Morrill. For the first quarter, Mannahouse managed to keep a slower pace to the game but found themselves down 17-11.
The second quarter was chaotic, but both teams struggled to score. In a back and forth affair, neither team managed to score a bucket until almost three and a half minutes in to the quarter. Two 3-pointers by senior Brandon Gale, a bucket by Morrill, and a couple of free throws gave the Loggers 28 points at the half while their aggressive defense held Mannahouse to only 15 points in the half.
The third quarter changed everything. Senior Tanner Jackson exploded in a performance described as "unconscious" by coach Paul Isom. Jackson scored 16 of his 19 points in the third quarter, "when he shoots like that he just might be the best player in the state," Isom said. Jackson was 5/6 from beyond the arch on the night.
For Mannahouse, senior Chisom Okafor was the life of their offense. All night he took confident shots on Morrill and played physical defense inside. Okafor led Mannahouse with 10 points on the night. The guards for Mannahouse also played good games, but the depth of Knappa allowed the Loggers to constantly have fresh legs to keep the Johnson brothers and Jadon Bjornsgard in check.
With a large lead and two minutes to go, the student section for Knappa started chanting “we want Daniel” as a plea to Isom to let Toliver see his first-ever varsity action. With a minute and a half to go, Isom sent Toliver to the scorers’ table to finish the game. “It was overwhelming to have that support [from the crowd]” a smiling Toliver said after the game. He described his opportunity as “amazing”.
With the win, Knappa secured at least a share of the Northwest League regular-season title. “We’ve worked so hard for this,” Jackson said after the game. Coach Isom said that it was a “good first step” but that his team needed to continue to “take care of business” as they close out the season against Gaston on Thursday before having a rematch at Mannahouse on Saturday.
Mannahouse still stands firmly at 2nd in the league standings. With a chances at both Faith Bible and Knappa coming Friday and Saturday, the Lions can clench that position heading into the league playoffs. If they want a share of the regular season title, Mannahouse will need to win their remaining two games and get some help from a struggling Gaston team (who would have to beat Knappa on Thursday).
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