Basketball Recap: Friday's Defeat Ends Knoxville Catholic's Winning Streak

Knoxville Catholic was the 69-66 winner over Alcoa when they last played one another back in January of 2017, but their luck changed this time around. The Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish lost to the Alcoa Tornadoes on the road by a 87-71 margin on Friday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Fighting Irish came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 11th, while the Tornadoes are ranked 64th).

Cade Murphy

Points

12/20/24 @ Alcoa	17
12/19/24 vs Farragut	37
12/17/24 vs King's Academy	17
12/14/24 vs York Institute	21

Despite the loss, Knoxville Catholic still got an impressive performance from Cade Murphy, who almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. Murphy's evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayson Gainey, who went 6 of 11 on his way to 15 points.

Even though they lost, Knoxville Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in nine consecutive contests.

Knoxville Catholic moved to 8-2 with that defeat, which also ended their four-game winning streak. As for Alcoa, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season.

Knoxville Catholic didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 77-59 win against A.C. Reynolds on the 21st. Alcoa has also already played their next contest, a 69-67 victory against Oak Ridge on the 21st.