Men
APPLETON, Wisconsin—The Knox Prairie Fire men’s basketball team fell to the Lawrence Vikings by a final score of 58-78 today in Appleton. The loss opens up a two-game conference stand and moves their overall record to 2-3 on the young season.
In the first half, the Prairie Fire struggled to get much going on the offensive side of the ball. Forcing Knox to shoot just
26.7% from the field, Lawrence’s defense managed to contest many of the shots that were put up. Despite pulling down 19 rebounds, Knox was unable to put many of them back into the basket. Wes Jolly managed to make the most out his minutes off the bench, going
2-4 from the field and hauling in two offensive rebounds. The Prairie Fire defense managed to hold the Vikings to a respectable 37.5% in the half, but Lawrence’s 6-14 line from beyond the arc caused Knox to enter the half down by eight.
Knox’s offense improved greatly in the second half, as they managed to score 31 points and go 13-32 from the floor. Zach Lowe drained two three-pointers, and Jolly continued his impressive night by going a perfect 3-3 in the half.
However, the Vikings offense was more than up for the task, shooting an otherworldly 66.7%, with Brad
Sendell going 8-8 from the charity stripe and putting up 18 points in the second half alone. Lawrence’s motion offense was tough to stop, and as a result the outscored Knox 47-35 in the half, creating the 20-point
difference that was the final score.
Lowe finished with 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Prairie Fire. Wes Jolly and Jordan Rayne each added 10 points.
“It was nice to get a conference game under our belt,” said head coach Ben Davis. “We will get back to work for a matchup against Grinnell this weekend.”
Knox looks to achieve their first conference victory of the season when they host Grinnell College this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Women
The Knox Prairie Fire women’s basketball team defeated the Lawrence Vikings this Wednesday in Appleton, winning 67-55. With the victory, the Prairie Fire improve their winning streak to four games while winning their first conference game of the season.
Early on, Knox used their trademark suffocating defense to great effect. Holding the Vikings to only 24.1% shooting and 18 points total in the first two quarters allowed for the Prairie Fire to build a solid lead. Jessica Lee was a perfect 3-3 off the bench, while Kyra Huffman drained all four of her free throws to put up six points, four rebounds, and three steals. Forcing turnovers on the defensive end led to plenty of fastbreak opportunities for Knox, who were efficient and calculated when taking their shots. As a result, the second quarter ended with them up by 14 points.
The second half saw the Prairie Fire offense struggle to keep up their performance from the first half. Knox turned the ball over 12 times in the final two quarters, and most of their offense was hurried by the persistent Lawrence defense. What the Prairie Fire did manage to successfully achieve on offense was getting to the freethrow line often, going 15-for-19 from the stripe. This allowed them to stay relatively even with the hot Lawrence offense, who shot a much improved 40% from the field and went 6-12 from three. Using the big lead they had built up in the first half, Knox managed to get a relatively comfortable win.
Kyra Huffman led the Prairie Fire with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jarrelyn McCall added 13 points, while NaKeva Mack tacked on 11. Catessa Duran picked up seven points and six steals.
“We played well for four quarters tonight,” said head coach Emily Cline. “We got out to an early lead and avoided giving up big runs in the second half. We will need to clean up the turnovers, but overall a good win.”
The Prairie Fire look to keep their winning streak alive when they host Grinnell College this Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
