BUFFALO TWP — Knoch senior forward Matt Zanella showcased a plethora of post moves against Freeport. On more than one possession he went up-and-under to finish layups.

Zanella crashed the boards and tried some power moves. Anything to help the Knights seal a 53-41 Section 1-AAA win Tuesday night at Freeport High School. Knoch played without sophomore point guard Austin Hannes, who is out for the season after suffering a knee injury last Friday against Mars.

“We needed this win, definitely,” said Zanella, who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. “This was a huge win. We finished the first half of the section 5-2. That way the second half of the section we'll be ready to go and keep the same record.”

The Knights (8-5, 5-2) needed Zanella the most after the Yellowjackets went ahead 8-7 on a jumper by Josh Beale at the first-quarter buzzer. Knoch was struggling to adjust to a motion offense with first-time point guard Aiden Albert.

Zanella scored all 10 of the Knights' second-quarter points to help them build a 17-16 halftime lead. His layup with 34 seconds left in the half on a pass from Albert, who finished with five assists, put Knoch ahead for good.

“Z's been in a slump and we knew it was a matter of time,” Knoch coach Ron McNabb said. “He's too good. He made great moves and made great shots. I thought they were physical with him. His up-and-unders and shot fakes were good.”

The rest of the offense caught up after halftime. Jackson McKee, who finished with 16 points, added seven during the third quarter as Knoch used a 11-0 run to build a 32-19 lead.

Freeport (9-4, 3-4) shot 1-of-11 from the field in the third quarter.

Yellowjackets coach Mike Beale said the Knights size was hard to overcome. Freeport was outrebounded 33-15.

“We knew Zanella was their go-to guy and we tried to take him away,” Beale said. “He's a good guy in the post and does a nice job with his back to the basket. They exploited that and he got his shots. Their size bothered us.”

Freeport did make a run in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to six, 36-30, when Kevin Lynch made a 3-pointer with 3:30 remaining. Mac Christy, who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, stopped their momentum.

He caught a pass in the paint and was fouled while finishing. Christy made the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play. Freeport wouldn't get within eight points for the rest of the game.

“We thought we had a good advantage inside,” Zanella said. “That's what we were trying to hit. We had to go big today with Austin out. We wanted to pound the ball inside, crash the glass and get easy buckets against them.”

Josh Beale led the Yellowjackets with 10 points, while Codey Digiacobbe finished with a team-high 15. Knoch's defensive focus was on Beale and he was hounded by Troy Hixson, Zanella and PJ Gourley throughout the game.

Beale shot 3-of-7 from the field. That's the effort Knoch was looking for after losing its point guard.

“It was good for us because of confidence,” McNabb said. “It shows us we can win without Austin. It's going to be tough. It was tough for us to get into an offense tonight because we're not used to our new positions yet. It was a good morale booster for us.”

KNOCH 53

Aiden Albert 0 4-5 4, Troy Hixson 0 1-2 1, Matt Zanella 10 1-2 21, Mac Christy 3 5-5 11, Jackson McKee 5 5-6 16, Josh Knochel 0 0-0 0, Devin Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 15-18 53.

FREEPORT 41

Mason Eddinger 1 2-3 4, Kris Keppel 1 0-0 3, Codey Digiacobbe 6 3-3 15, Josh Beale 3 4-6 10, Jon Wise 2 0-0 4, Brandon Hochbein 0 0-0 0, Kevin Lynch 2 0-0 5, Dylan Hochbein 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 9-11 41.

Knoch 7 10 15 21 — 53

Freeport8 8 3 22 — 41

3-point goals: Knoch 1 (McKee); Freeport 2 (Keppel, Lynch)

Friday: Highlands at Freeport; Hampton at Knoch