Jada Burgard, Knoch girls basketball show they can shoot the 3 but fall to Montour in season opener
KENNEDY TWP — Knoch girls basketball proved in Friday’s season opener it could knock down shots when it got them, especially from range.
But the rest did not come so easy.
The Knights struggled to create offense and turned the ball over far too much in a 41-33 loss in the Montour Tip-Off Tournament against the host Spartans.
Montour’s zone harassed senior forward Karlee Buterbaugh into several of Knoch’s 23 unofficial turnovers, stifling any ability for the Knights to build an offensive flow.
“Couldn’t get anything to click tonight offensively,” Knights head coach Shane McGraw said. “Made some shots we had to, to keep us hanging around, but we just couldn’t get in any sort of flow.”
Knoch shot at a decent clip (33%) but the volume wasn’t enough – the Knights were 9 of 27 from the field and never had more than eight shots in a quarter. Jada Burgard scored a game-high 19 points, including three of Knoch’s seven 3-pointers, and grabbed an unofficial six rebounds. Point guard Neah Ewing had three more treys for nine points.
“I think we’ve learned that we need to stick together no matter what happens on the court, we can’t fight about anything, and we need to work on our defense and execute on offense, too,” said Burgard, a junior, of what the takeaway from the game was.
The Knights can draw on recent history to know they can turn things around. They scored just 24 and 27 points in the first two games last season during the Armstrong Tip-Off Tournament, both losses. Knoch finished 15-12 (7-5 section) and made the WPIAL Class 4A tournament quarterfinals after the slow start.
“I think we’ll figure it out,” McGraw said.
Their first chance to do so is 1 p.m. Saturday against Thomas Jefferson to finish the tip-off tournament.
They can also likely count on a better game from Buterbaugh, who finished with just two points off free throws, was 0 for 3 from the field and was visibly frustrated in the second half. Montour’s zone was particularly effective against the big, with defenders scraping off the ball to prevent her from getting remotely comfortable enough to shoot.
“We knew she was a very strong, dominate person, especially when she can get it inside and drive it inside,” said Montour head coach Jordan Chiles, adding that she was willing to concede a few more open 3s from Knoch if it meant successfully containing Buterbaugh.
Despite the offensive discord, the Knights only trailed 20-17 at the half and never completely fell out of the game. What saved them was Montour’s struggles shooting; Montour shot just 7 of 27 in the opening half, and that was buoyed by two Abby Cleary buckets in the final minute that gave it the lead 20-17 before the break. The Spartans finished 15 of 52 shooting.
Cleary finished with 18 points, and Tiffany Miller helped the Spartans with 14.
Buterbaugh unofficially had five boards and three assists, while Ewing had three rebounds and three assists.
KNOCH 33
Jada Burgard 5 6-7 19, Neah Ewing 3 0-0 9, Karlee Buterbaugh 0 2-4 2, Aubrey Spencer 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Szebalskie 0 0-0 0, Liv Foster 1 0-0 3, Sadie Hawk 0 0-0 0, Lydia Pinkerton 0 0-0 0
MONTOUR 41
Tiffany Miller 5 4-6 14, Sofia Brandy 0 0-0 0, Abby Cleary 4 4-4 18, Macey Rathway 0 0-0 0, Zoe Woessner 2 1-2 5, Siena Palmer 0 0-0 0, Addyson Kranak 2 0-0 4, Kiahra Turner 0 0-0 0
KNOCH 8 9 7 9 – 33
MONTOUR 9 11 14 7 – 41
3-point goals: Knoch 7 (Burgard 3, Ewing 3, Liv Foster); Montour 3 (Cleary 3)
Saturday: Knoch vs. Thomas Jefferson, 1 p.m.
