Freddies win fourth straight KMAC championship

Fredericktown may have been dreaming about winning its fourth straight Knox Morrow Athletic Conference championship on Friday. But, the East Knox boys’ basketball team wasn’t going to just roll over with the champs coming to town.

A solid first quarter gave the Freddies an early lead, but the Bulldogs fought for all 32 minutes before falling 57-49.

“They (East Knox) are disciplined. They were able to work the pace in their favor, and we just struggled to get up and down the court like we typically do,” said Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling. “You talk about rare air. This is four years in a row we’ve won it (KMAC). This group of seniors has been a part of that squad for four years. That’s special.

“It’s not something too many people can say they’ve been a part of — four straight years of championship level basketball. I’m proud of those guys.”

Those Freddie seniors — Blake Sipes, Tanner Estep and Gavin Toombs — showed up big all across the board once again in the win. Sipes had six points, seven rebounds, five deflections, and three steals and three assists. Estep had seven points, a rebound and a steal. And Toombs scored four points, had five rebounds and two deflections.

The Freddies (19-0 overall, 13-0 KMAC) jumped out to an early 17-8 lead, but East Knox didn’t go away, battling back to six at halftime (30-24). The Freddie lead opened up a bit again in the second half, but never enough to fully close the door on EK (5-16, 3-11) until the final quarter clock was winding down.

“We did some good things (defensively),” said East Knox coach Ryan Powell. “They just outrebounded us and beat us.”

Zane Luckmeier led the Freddies with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists. Carson Rinehart added 16 points and eight rebounds,

East Knox was led by Peyton Hull, who scored 17 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Kyson Miller added 13 points and five rebounds, while Jaxon Crawford had eight points, and Rush Beatty had four points, eight rebounds and five assists.