Jan. 2, 2006
The first half of the season provided the Kings 8th grade B team many thrilling games, some better than others. In the season opener, Kings experienced a tough 32-30 loss to Madison. The Knights led most of the game only to relinquish that lead late in the 4th quarter. Brandon Byrd made it exciting at the end, shooting a near half court shot that rattled half way down the cylinder before popping out as the buzzer sounded. Overall, it was a great team performance for the first game of the season. Leading scorers were Nathan Rothchild and Nick Henn with 11 and 9 respetively.
The Knights faced a much more formidable opponent in the second game. Seven Hills was a much taller and more athletic team with great passing skills. Although the 49-11 score was lopsided, the Knights fought hard to the end.
Game three was a perennial FAVC match-up between Kings and Little Miami. Coach Alex Garvin (7 th Grade coach, a former Knight himself) informed the team on the bus ride over, that Kings had not lost to Little Miami in the history of the rivalry. The players responded, leaving the streak in tact, by overpowering Little Miami in a 54-34 victory. Although most of the team found their way in the scorer’s column, Nick Henn and Brandon Byrd led the Knights offensively with 12 and 11 respectively.
Next up for the Knights was area rival Loveland. Kings was down throughout the entire first half. Whatever Coach Henke said at half time must have worked, as Kings came out the second half much stingier on defense going so far as shutting out Loveland in the 4th quarter. While they did their job defensively, the players kept chipping away at Loveland’s lead, overtaking them in the 4th quarter to leave with a 31-29 victory. Brandon Byrd led the offensive effort with 10 points, most of which came in the second half, followed by Ben Bennett with 8. With this win, the Knights record was 2-2.
After another tough loss against Nagel, Kings went on the road to face Edgewood. This was another game that had the Knights dominating the nearly the entire game only to give up the lead in the final quarter for a 31-25 loss. This game was a tough reminder to the team that they had to play hard for four quarters. Ben Bennett led the offense with 7 points.
The final game before the break was a fill-in game due to scheduling issues with Mason. A short handed Knights team instead faced Wilmington, starting out strong with 7 points straight from Nick Henn. The Knights offense went cold, coming up with 11 more points the remainder in the game resulting in a 29-18 loss. Leading scorer was Craig Douglass with 9 points.
The team is looking for a strong second half of the season. Many of the players are new this year and are showing continued improvement in their play. Come out and support the Knights. A loud home crowd is often the fuel needed to push the team to victory!