HOWARD — Emotion was the name of the game when East Knox Bulldogs hosted cross-county rival Fredericktown in Friday night’s Knox Morrow Athletic Conference tilt.
The Freddies were ready to play from the opening tip, roared to a 16-2 start, and maintained a double-digit margin in a 73-61 victory.
“This (the emotional aspect of the game) is something we talk about a lot,” Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling said. “It goes back to leadership, we want our guys to be even-keeled.
“If you get too emotional or not emotional enough, it’s hard to make the next play.”
Coach Ryan Powell was pleased with the way his players performed under pressure.
“With the exception of a couple of tough streaks, I thought they handled themselves pretty well,” Powell said.
Fredericktown opened a commanding 22-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs, aided by a technical foul, drew within 12, but that is as close as they would come.
With just over 35 ticks left before halftime, a technical foul on the East Knox bench allowed the Freddies to carry a 43-25 lead into the locker room.
Fredericktown is now 10-2 overall, 5-0 in the KMAC.
“They’re great basketball team and we knew that and we knew that it was going to take a very good game from us, with great effort,” Powell said. “I thought our effort was good but we don’t come out with that effort consistently.”
Fredercktown’s Gavin Toombs led all scorers with 23 points, Blake Sipes added 14 and Carson Rinehart rounded out those in double figures the Fredericktown.
Hayden Merritt led the Bulldogs offense with 22 points and Landon Dawson tossed in 20.
East Knox is 3-11 overall, 3-6 in the Knox Morrow athletic Conference.
“East Knox is a tough-nosed, gritty basketball team,” Dibling said. “They do the little things well and they are well-coached.”
Dibling said there is no time to let down.
“We want to go out and have good practice tomorrow, that’s kind of been our mantra, we don’t look too far ahead,” he said.
Powell said his team was realistic about Friday’s opponent.
“We knew going in we were the underdog, and we just have to have a competitive fire,” he said.
Fredericktown will now set their sites on Loudonville as they host the Redbirds on
Tuesday at 7 p.m. On that same date, the Bulldogs will travel to Northmor.
