After a 51-45 loss at Oakwood on Dec. 10, the Knights have won three straight, including a 63-47 win against defending OHC South champion Greeneview.
The key has been playing unselfish basketball.
“That’s all we’ve been talking about — playing for each other, helping each other get shots,” said Knights coach Lonnie Robinson. “Don’t go out there and be looking for your (shots). If you help each other, your shots will come and it’s really made a difference.”
The Knights are seeking their first conference championship since 2014. They finished 11-5 in the OHC South last season, tied for second with Catholic Central and Cedarville.
While they have lofty goals, they’re not talking about them, Robinson said. The goal is to simply win the day, he said.
“All we’re trying to do is go 1-0,” Robinson said. “Our next game is Jan. 2 (at Troy Christian) and our goal is to go 1-0.”
The Knights are led by senior Reagan Ware, the four-year starter who is averaging 14.6 points and 3.4 steals per game. She’s also shooting 44.2 percent from behind the 3-point line.
She scored a season-high 33 points at Covington earlier this season, hitting eight 3-pointers. As the season progresses, opponents will focus on stopping her, Robinson said.
“She’s got to score for us,” he said.
The Knights have five players scoring seven or more points per game, including senior Delaney Benedict (11.2 ppg), freshman Claire Henry (9.4 ppg) and seniors Sierra Potter (7.4 ppg) and Katie Pry (7.0 ppg). Potter scored a season-high 17 in the win over Greeneview.
“That’s what happens when you get all five girls believing that everybody should be available offensively and be an offensive weapon,” Robinson said.
Henry is the team’s starting point guard this season, allowing Benedict to move to take over the shooting guard role.
“She plays defense and she’s smart with the basketball,” he said. “She’s making some freshman mistakes, but she’s got a great basketball IQ. With Delaney out there next to her, we’ve basically got two point guards out there and that’s hard to guard.”
The Knights will get a boost later this season when senior forward Lydia Henry returns from injury. She averaged 9.6 points and 7.3 rebounds last season, but she injured her knee in the summer. She’ll hopefully join her sister Claire on the floor, Robinson said.
“When she tore her ACL, we all cried and were sad and then put our mindset towards coming back and playing with her sister,” he said. “When they were playing together this summer, it was fun to watch.”
The Knights will face stiff competition in the OHC, including Catholic Central (8-2, 5-0 OHC). They must also weather several tough crossover games with Mechanicsburg (9-0, 6-0 OHC North) and West Liberty-Salem (6-1, 4-0 OHC North). All 16 OHC games — including two games against each division foe and six crossover games — count as part of the league race. Greenon won’t be looking forward, Robinson said.
“They’ve bought into that, we’ve just got to keep getting better as a team,” Robinson said. “I just love the way our attitude is and the effort we get in practice. We’ve got 13 kids that can come in at any time and give us something. Practices have been really fun this year. I just love the way we’re getting after it and it’s starting to show.”
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