The Armstrong River Hawks will look to defend their home court on Saturday against the Knoch Knights at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Armstrong's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight loss. They took a 73-62 hit to the loss column at the hands of Shaler Area. While losing is never fun, Armstrong can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 197th, while Shaler Area is ranked fifth).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Jacob Szep, who scored 16 points. That's the first time this season that he scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaiah Riggle, who scored 19 points.
Armstrong struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only two offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Even though Knoch has not done well against Highlands recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Knoch had just enough and edged Highlands out 68-65. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory Knoch has posted yet this season.
Armstrong's loss dropped their record down to 8-6. As for Knoch, they pushed their record up to 11-3 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home.
Armstrong was able to grind out a solid victory over Knoch when the teams last played back in December of 2022, winning 61-54. Will Armstrong repeat their success, or does Knoch have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
