Bulldogs stave off late charge by Danville

Basketball coaches have been explaining the importance of free throws to their players pretty much since James Naismith introduced the game to college students in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891.

Saturday, the East Knox girls’ basketball team found out why.

The Bulldogs hit on all seven of their free throws in the final quarter, holding off a furious rally from rival Danville, and went on to a 41-38 victory in a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference contest at Danville.

“We hung on. Danville fought back. We didn’t have a great second half, but we played well. We shot foul shots well in the fourth quarter and that’s what won it,” said East Knox coach Ron Looney.

The Bulldogs (8-9 overall, 6-8 KMAC) had used a 10-0 run early in the second quarter to jump out to a lead, which remained at 12 points at halftime (28-16).

But Danville (3-15, 3-11) chipped away, getting a 3-pointer by Blakeleigh Anderson and then a steal and a layup from Kendal Lepley late in the third quarter to close the gap to seven. A 3-pointer and another basket from Kenzi Staats closed the gap to two (32-30) with just three minutes remaining.

EK’s Ava Faucett canned two free throws, but then Staats hit another three to make it a one-point game (34-33) with just under two minutes remaining.

The lead was still one when Malena Streby hit two free throws with 43 seconds left, then added another two with just 7.7 seconds left after a Danville basket closed the gap to one again.

“Malena stepped up big for us,” Looney said.

Danville had a shot to send the game to overtime but rimmed out the 3-point attempt and EK and its fans erupted in celebration.

Faucett led the Bulldogs with 16 points. Strebe added 10 points, while Izzy Bostic had seven. Cloe Tucker and Jasmine Smith each chipped in four points.

Lepley scored 18 points to lead the Blue Devils. Staats added 12 and Anderson had three.