The top two boys basketball teams in Section 1-4A in the Trib HSSN Class 4A rankings matched up for the second time this season, and North Catholic avenged an earlier defeat with a 61-55 victory over Knoch on Tuesday in Saxonburg.
“We’re pretty resilient, and we have some skill as well,” said North Catholic coach Jim Rocco. “We understand how to play, and the kids did a great job at making adjustments.”
With the victory, North Catholic improved to 16-4, 10-1. Knoch is 16-4, 10-1.
The Knights led by four after the first quarter and held that lead for most of the first half until senior Jason Fredericks beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 27-25 halftime lead. That basket sparked a 12-0 run for North Catholic.
“Jason made some tough shots for us tonight,” Rocco said. “He’s just such a talented kid. That talent has been fostered in the gym. What people don’t realize about Jason is he is up four days a week at 7 a.m. working out.
“His natural ability to shoot is great, but shooters are made, and he has made himself a great shooter.”
Fredericks, who finished with a game-high 26 points and five 3-pointers, also beat the first-quarter clock with a basket, and he also hit late 3-pointer to put North Catholic up by three at the end of the third quarter. Those numbers matched his totals in the 65-56 loss at home to Knoch on Jan. 9.
“It feels great,” Fredericks said of the win. “We were able to create tonight for me, for Jude (Rottmann) and for Brandon (Pickette) and we were able to spread the floor. When they went to man, we were able to exploit it.”
The Trojans upped the lead to nine in the final quarter. The Knights got within four but could never retake the lead. Knoch outrebounded North Catholic, 31-19, but the Trojans won the turnover battle 14-6 and added 13 steals, led by Rottmann’s six.
Senior Teegan Finucan paced Knoch with 21 points and 3 three pointers. Vinny DeFelice added 12 points and six rebounds, and his brother Roman chipped in nine points, five rebounds and a pair of steals.
Liam Avon finished with eight points and eight boards for the Knights.
Rottmann had 10 points for the Trojans while adding four rebounds and three assists. Tom Arth chipped in with six points and seven rebounds.
The Knights’ length gave the Trojans problems in the earlier loss, and Fredericks said that was part of the preparation for the rematch.
“All week, we focused on taking away from all their guards getting into the paint. We tried to force them to take tough shots. If they beat us that way, that’s fine. We made sure to not get beaten in the paint.”
Said Rocco: “What is so cool about our basketball team, is that they just have the ability to talk basketball. We have conversations about what we are going to do, and that happened tonight during the second half. We talk all the time (to the kids), all we want you to do is enjoy basketball, be resilient and play mature.
“That’s what we are good at.”
The Trojans have won seven straight games. Barring upsets in the section finales — Deer Lakes at North Catholic and Knoch at Freeport — the teams will most likely head into the postseason as co-section champions.