No. 2 Knoch girls roll past Burrell in Class 4A game

By: Michael Love
Monday, January 25, 2021 | 9:28 PM

The Knoch girls basketball team hadn’t played in a week before hosting Section 1-4A rival Burrell on Monday.

But the Knights showed little rust as they overwhelmed the Bucs early, led by 34 at the break and cruised to a 65-22 victory.

“I told the girls that I am very proud of them,” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said. “Having six days off (from game action), for them to come out and play with that kind of energy, I was pleased with their effort.”

The Knights, No. 2 in the latest Trib HSSN Class 4A rankings, improved to 4-0 overall and in the section.

Burrell, which hadn’t played since a 50-21 victory Jan. 14 at Derry, fell to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the section.

Knoch, which honored seniors Nevaeh Ewing, Sam Archer and Amanda Huckenstein before the game, forced five Burrell turnovers and pulled down 10 rebounds over the first four minutes as it opened a 16-3 lead.

That advantage swelled to 27-8 at the end of the first quarter. Sophomore Nina Shaw scored 13 of her game-high 21 points in the opening frame.

“Burrell is young, but their program is improving. They are getting better and better,” Andreassi said. “They have some talented players, and it was good to come out to the start we did and not give them any momentum.”

Burrell hoped to get things going in the second quarter, but missed opportunities on the offensive end kept them stuck in neutral.

Knoch went on a 17-0 run in the second before Hope Clark connected on a jumper with 46 seconds to go until the break.

“Knoch does this to a lot of people. We were just the next one in line,” Burrell coach Joel Ceraso said.

“We thought we had a good idea of what we wanted to do, but it’s tough to practice and simulate what Knoch does. They are just seasoned, physical and fast. They are a good squad and worthy of every bit of their ranking.”

In addition to Shaw’s 21 points, Ewing scored 12 points and added nine rebounds and junior Madilyn Boyer contributed eight points and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore Hattie McGraw drained a trio of 3-pointers and finished with nine points. Knoch made nine from beyond the arc.

Burrell junior Allison Fisher finished with a team-best 12 points, and fellow junior Hope Clark added six.

Freshman Shelby Wojcik came off the bench to score four points and pull down eight rebounds for the Bucs.

“We’re playing to constantly grow, and I told the girls to keep playing hard, and they did that,” Ceraso said. “We hadn’t played in more than a week, and we needed the game reps.”

Knoch played Monday’s game without starter Megan Vasas and reserves Paige Rodgers and Jess Burgard because of covid quarantine protocols.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Knoch