As the clock hit zero on March 6, the Varsity Boys Basketball team’s season came to a conclusion with a 59-48 loss to Fort Zumwalt North in the first round of districts.

“I feel that we came out slow at the start and at the end of the game we found our groove but it was too late,” senior forward Josh Carpenter said.

Splitting the first six games of the season 3-3, the Knights really turned it on late in the season winning eight of their last 10 before their district game against Zumwalt North. The Knights ended with a record of 17-9; 9-1 in the conference, landing themselves the top spot in the GAC South.

The Knights came into the 2013-14 season with memories of unmet goals the previous year. The Knights had an unimpressive record of 6-21 last year but did boast the GAC South Player of the Year Kyle Lemons.

The Knights went back to the chalkboard for this season looking to find a replacement for Lemons, senior Guard James Gleeson was the answer for Coach Darrell Davis.  Gleeson had a phenomenal senior season eclipsing Lemon’s point total of 438 from last year with 519 points, averaging 19.9 PPG in 26 games.  Gleeson not only put up a lot of points, but he was accurate, shooting 46 percent on the year from the field.  Gleeson also won GAC South Player of the Year this season giving the title to a Knight for the second year in a row.  Davis believed Gleeson’s excellent season was in part from the extra work he put in over the off season.

“He worked hard over the past summer and we put in a new offense this year which really worked his strengths this year and he improved so much over summer and his hard work payed off,” coach Davis said.

Gleeson was not the only one contributing on the offensive side of the ball. Normandy transfer Terry White, playing for his first year for North, was the second leading scorer for the Knights with 320 points.  White also was constantly at the free throw line.  White was at the line 170 times, only 22 less than team leading Gleeson, and shot 65 percent.

Although the Knights had an improved defense this year, their offense was what set them apart from the year before. The Knights had 22 games this year in which they put up more than 50 points.  That was 12 more games than last year.

The Knights were a very balanced team this year, not only on the offensive side, but defensively too. White had one-fourth of the teams steals with 51.  The team also held their opponents to an average of 54 points a game.

Even though he didn’t score any points this year, Coach Darrell Davis was a huge factor in the Knights’ success this year.  Named GAC South Coach of the Year in only his second season coaching for the Knights, Davis set his sights on winning.  Not discouraged by a rough first year, Davis inspired the Knights to play their hardest. Davis record through two years is 23-30.

“He put in a new offense which really helped us work better as a team this year,” Gleeson said. “He walked us through executing in game like situations really well.”

With nine seniors that will be graduating this year, the Knights will have four varsity players returning for the 2014-2015 season.