Knights fall in fourth-place game at Plano

PLANO – Kaneland hadn't seen the kind of speed and athleticism that King brought to the hardwood during Monday's third place game in the 57th Plano Christmas Classic.

The Knights were able to hang with the Jaguars for about 31 minutes, but surrendered six straight points to close the game, falling 57-49.

Regardless, it was the Kaneland's best tournament since the Knights took third place in 2011.

"We're going to build on the positives," Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. "We've got to improve in all areas without a doubt, but I've seen some improvements from the start of the year to now."

Kaneland (7-4) trailed 23-22 at the half and 36-34 at the end of three quarters after Brett David drilled a shot from just beyond half court as the buzzer sounded. But the Knights just couldn't mount any big scoring runs in the second half.

"Their athleticism played a big part and they were pretty physical," David said. "We struggled with that a bit. We hadn't faced a team that athletic yet, but credit to them."

Bryce Ebert's layup pulled the Knights even at 39-39 early in the fourth quarter, and the two squads pretty much exchanged baskets for the remainder of the quarter.

But whenever the Knights needed a key stop, King seemingly was able to slice its way to the hoop for layups.

"I felt like we've got to tighten up our transition," Colombe said. "It seems like tonight we were kind of hanging out when they secured rebounds. We normally don't do that. We were kind of hanging out and trying to get a steal or something and they'd make one pass and have a 3-on-2 or 2-on-1 on the other end."

When the Jaguars weren't able to get out in transition the Knights made things difficult on them. But that didn't happen often enough.

"I feel like when we got all five guys back playing five-man team defense this tournament we were tough to score on," Colombe said. "We've got to clean that up."

David's basket with 1:19 left pulled the Knights to within 51-49, but King responded with a basket by Davarrion Reynolds followed by one from Joseph Spaulding after a turnover and suddenly it was a 55-49 game with 48 seconds remaining.

"We're a defensive team and we know we have to play every play all day, King coach Culumber Ball said. "It's all about defense. Offense will keep you in the game but defense will win it for you."

Shooting just 39% from the field (21-of-54) didn't help matters for Kaneland. Committing 16 turnovers didn't either, although King had 20.

David led the Knights with 19 points and six rebounds, Bryce Ebert added 10 points, Jamari Meeks had eight points and three steals and Will Cushman had seven points and six assists.