DANVILLE – Sometimes, it all comes down to a few small plays.
Corbin Hazen, Ethan Hawk and Dylan James scored in a 9-0 run in the third quarter to give the Danville Blue Devils the first commanding lead of Friday’s game against the East Knox Bulldogs. Hazen and James would each finish with 18 points and Hawk added seven to lead the Devils to a 56-41 home victory over their biggest rivals.
“That game was everything it was expected to be,” Danville coach Matt Moore said. “If we keep playing like this, we can win a lot of games in a row.”
Indeed, throw out the records.
Danville and East Knox came into the game on opposite sides of the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference standings. The Blue Devils earned just their second KMAC win Friday, while the Bulldogs (7-5, 4-3 KMAC) are still within range of a league title – though that prospect is slipping away.
With Danville (5-7, 2-5 KMAC) holding a one-point lead, Hazen began the run with a score, followed by Hawk scoring on a pass from James. James then scored off a steal, putting the lead at 10. Skyler Moore pulled down two of his four rebounds during the run, to go along with his game-high three assists.
“Great defense creates great offense,” Moore said. “When we make a play on the defensive end, we tend to make a play on the offensive end. Corbin and Dylan played a great game. Skyler Moore kept a lot of things together, so credit him as well.”
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Shane Knepp drained a 3 at the buzzer to bring East Knox to within seven, 39-32, after three quarters.
East Knox went 1 of 10 from the field in the fourth. Danville was 4 for 9, including a dunk by James that led to a three-point play.
East Knox began the game with five 3-pointers in the first period. Weston Melick hit three of the five, the first of which gave his team an early 6-2 lead. Knepp and Cody Cockrell also hit 3s in the period. The team, however, would go 1 for 12 from the arc for the rest of the game.
After the Dogs’ early run, neither team held a lead greater than three points until late in the third period.
“We got them (East Knox) in foul trouble in the first half, so we worked the ball inside more,” Moore said. “We had a lot more success with that in the second half, I think.”
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Melick led East Knox with 15 points. Cockrell put down 13, including six free throws in the second half. Knepp finished with 10 points.
Hawk finished with seven points for Danville. Skyler Moore also contributed seven.
Danville travels to KMAC leader Highland on Tuesday, while East Knox plays at Cardington.
