1998-99 KANELAND
BOYS BASKETBALL
(Regular Season)

Kaneland 34 Stillman Valley 53

The first game of the season wasn't a great start for the Knights, as most of the basketball team was still on the football practice field. But the show must go on, as they took on Stillman Valley in the first round of the Byron Tournament and came up on the short side 53-34.

Using a squad made up mostly of sophomore with a smattering of Juniors and Seniors Coach Ken Nearhing's team got off to a slow start trailing 14-4 after one and 22-8 at half. The Knights held their own in the second half, but were unable to overcome the big lead.

Leading scorers for the Knights were Justin Pauly and Brian Zielke with 6 each. Al Griffin added 5 more plus Kyle Donka and Pat Albrecht chipped in with 4 points each.

Kaneland 45 Hampshire 62

The Kaneland Knights continue to struggle as the football team practices for one of the last times, indicating help isn't to far away. But the Young Knights held their own for most of the game trailing only 14-12 after the opening quarter and only 26-23 at half. But with a team mostly made up of sophomores the more experienced Hampshire team eventually pulled away for a 62-45 victory.

The Knights attempt to come back in the game was made extra difficult when the only three players to score over 4 points fouled out of the game. Al Grifffin with 13, Mike Baliensiefen with 12 and Kenny Lippold with 10 points all fouled out. Justin Pauly and Chad Sterkel (4-for-4 at the line) added four more points each.

Kaneland 49 Rockford Life 51

The Knights almost pulled off their first win of the season, but a basket by Ameor Watts with just 3 seconds left lifted Rockford Life over Kaneland 51-49.

The Knights out scored Rockford 28-21 in the second half, but it just wasn't quite enough to get their first victory, as the Knights dropped to 0-3 for the young season. Kenny Lippold had a career night with 20 points. Mike Balensiefen added 11 more and Brian Zielke had 6 as Kaneland's big men came up big!

Kaneland shot only two free throws for the game. As soon as the game was over most everyone headed south to catch the football Knights win their second State Championship in a row, which was a sign that some basketball help (in the form of football players) isn't to far away.

Kaneland 39 Sycamore 46

The Knights looking for their first win of the season, came up just a little short as they lost to Sycamore 46-39 for deceiving record of 0-4. The Knights were still without their football plays with the exception of sophomores Ryan Schrader and Shawn Fuller. It was the Knights first conference game.

Trailing by a score of 22-9 the Knights started a uphill climb to catch the Spartans. Finally in the third quarter they got the game back to respectable at 26-22, then dropped to 35-28 before another surge got them to within a bucket at 37-35.

But the Spartans put it back up to 42-35 with just 3:50 remaining. That was where the score stayed until 1 minute remaining when fouls and last minute play resulted in the final score of 46-39.

"They made me very nervous in the fourth quarter," said Sycamore coach Tim Carlson. "Give them a lot of credit for getting the most out of what they had."

Coach Ken Neahring said, " Some of the kids started to run out of gas. They were using their second win at the end. I was real pleased with the way we played."

"Like I told the kids after the game, 'That was a real good start for us and promise me you're going to get better with each game.'"

The Knights were led by Mike Balensiefen with 12 points, Kenny Lippold with 8 and Ryan Schrader with 7 as the Knights played with just eight players.

The sophomore Knights lost to Sycamore 56-41 in their first conference game of the season. However, they did out score the Spartans 20-9 in the forth quarter. Leading the Knights were Matt Nelson with 9 points, Justin Wolbers and Kyle Donka with 7 points.

The Freshmen Knights lost their second game of the season to Sycamore 43-42 in a wild one. Kaneland was led by Josh Moore with 12, Nate Hill and Connor Michalek with 6 and Joe Heyob with 5 points.

Kaneland 35 Riverside-Brookfield 51

The Knights went to play their former coach John Rutter and with some added help as football seniors P.J. Fleck and Eric Delaney joined the squad. But Riverside-Brookfield and Rutter proved to be to much for the ever changing Knights, as they lost their fifth game in a row 51-35.

It would have been scary to wonder what the score would have been without Fleck (16 points) and Delaney (5 points) as they accounted for nearly three-quarters of the Knights scoring.

Kaneland only scored 12 points in the first half and trailed 33-12 as the teams broke for intermission. The Knights out scored RB in the second half 23-18, but it was too little too late. Ryan Schrader helped the cause with 6 points and Shawn Fuller added two giving the Knights football players 29 points and the non-football players 6 points, (Wayne Shaw-2 and Al Griffin-4).

The sophomore Knights lost to RB 33-32 in their second conference game of the season, to become 0-4 overall. However, they did out score RB 9-4 in the forth quarter to come within a basket of a win. Leading the Knights were Justin Wolbers with 8 points, Scott Pitstick 7 points, Matt Nelson 6 points, Robbie Bieritz 5 points and Chad Sterkel 4 points.

The Freshmen Knights lost their third game of the season to RB 39-36. Their second tough lose in a row. Kaneland was led by Schmitt with 13 points, Joe Heyob with 10, and Nate Hill with 6.

Kaneland 52 Ridgewood 47

The Knights won their first game of the season despite a strong fourth quarter by Ridgewood, 52-47. With the Knights leading 27-22 at half time, Kaneland came out in the third quarter with a defense that overwhelmed the Rebels as they allowed only 4 points.

However, trailing by 14 in the final quarter the Rebels hit three threes and with a full court press creating Kaneland turnovers, got themselves back into the game. But, it was the Kaneland free throws that ended up making the difference as the Knights hit 20 of 23 from the charity line.

The win was important for the Knights who have been struggling without a full complement of players because of the long football season. "we needed that win," said Kaneland head coach Ken Nearhing as his club climbed to 1-5 and 1-2 in the Suburban Prairie Conference. (Ridgewood fell to 2-5 and 0-3).

"It feels really good to get a win. I'm especially glad for some of the kids who have been with us from the start, before the football players were able to join us," said the coach. "We don't really have a designated starting five yet, but I was really pleased with the way our bench came through."

The Knights were led by P.J. Fleck for the second game in a row with 19 points. Eleven of those coming from the fall line (11-13). Al Griffen (4-for-4 from the line) added 10 points and Eric Delaney and Shawn Fuller added 6 each.

The sophomore Knights fell behind Ridgewood 9-7 after the first quarter and then went on the establish a season high in scoring dumping the Rebels 61-41 for their first win of the season. (1-4) (1-2 in the conference). Pat Albrecht had a super game with 18 points. He had lots of help however, as Chad Sterkel had 11 points, Scott Pitstick 9, Matt Nelson 8 and Justin Pauly 7.

The Freshmen Knights played Elmwood Park and won their first game of the young season in a game seeing both teams scoring over a 100 points, 61-47. The Knights (1-3), were led by Mike Eck with 19 big ones. He was followed by Joe Heyob with 14 and Dave Schmitt and Connor Michalek each with 10.

Kaneland 49 Elmwood Park 55

Well, what can be said about this year's basketball team? Just when it seemed safe to get a little excited about the team, they hit another snag. This time it was Elmwood Park who put on the brakes to what had hoped to a be a surging Kaneland basketball team, 55-49. But the Knights could only hang close and were out scored in every period but one (the second 16-15).

P.J. Fleck continues to score big points with 18, but it is not having an effect on the rest of the team. Al Griffin got 9 points and Mike Balensiefen added 7 along with Ryan Schrader. Seniors Eric Delaney and Kenny Lippold got 4 points each.

The Knights dropped to 1-6 for the season and are now 1-3 in the conference.

The sophomore Knights did their normal fall behind after the first quarter (8-11), but managed to turn it up a notch to upset Elmwood Park 55-42. The Knights out scored EP 31-19 in the second half for their second win in a row, as they moved their record to 2-4 and 2-2 in the conference. Matt Nelson scored 12 points to lead the Knights, but he had plenty of help from Chad Sterkel with 9, Justin Wolbers with 8, Scott Pitstick with 8, and Pat Albrecht with 7.

Kaneland 57 Yorkville 62

Adam Plank scored 29 points (5 3-pointers) to lead first-place Yorkville to a 62-57 victory over the visiting Knights. The Foxes moved to 5-0 in the conference while the Knights dropped to 1-7 for the season and 1-4 in the conference.

It was a close game in the first half as the teams went into the locker room with Kaneland down by only four points. But Plank and Brooks Whittington (14-points) kept the Knights at bay with their sharp shooting. Meanwhile, three Knights fouled out - Ryan Schrader, Kyle Schrader and Eric Delaney, all football players.

It was Kyle Schrader's first action of the season following a football related knee injury.

Kaneland being the visiting team had 10 more fouls than the Foxes, helping the Foxes scoring advantage as Yorkville hit 14-of-27 free throws while the Knights were just 8-for-20 from the line.

P.J. Fleck continues to score for the Knights with 24 points. His only real help came from center Ken Lippold who added 10 more.

The sophomore Knights became 2-5 for the season and 2-3 in the conference as the Foxes out scored them 64-55. The Knights started out strong with a 15-8 first quarter lead. And the Knights led 26-20 at half time. But a big third quarter (21-points) by the Foxes changed the direction of the game. Justin Wolbers led the Knights with 13 points and Matt Nelson scored 9 more. They also had help from Robbie Bieritz with 7 points and Kyle Donka and Chad Sterkel with 6 each.

The Freshmen Knights played Yorkville too and lost 54-50, to drop their record to 1-5 and 1-4 in the conference. The Knights got off to a slow start trailing 13-4 after one quarter. However, they battled back out scoring the Foxes 33 to 17 in the second half. Connor Michalek led the Knights with 14 points. Mike Eck chipped in with 11 and Joe Heyob (who fouled out of the game) added 10 and Dave Schmitt slipped in 9 more.

Kaneland 75 Spring Valley Hall 56

In a game that was a chance for Spring Valley Hall to get some revenge from the football loss to the Knights last month in the Class 3A State Semi-finals, the Red Devils just couldn't match the Knights offensive intensity as they went down 75-56.

It was the first round game of the Plano Christmas Classic and the unseeded Knights were the underdog to seventh-seeded Hall. At the half the game was still in doubt as the Knights held a slim 39-34 lead. But in the second half the Knights out scored the Red Devils 36-22 for their second win of the season.

The Knights showed balanced scoring, as five Knights scored in double figures. P.J. Fleck lead the way with 21, but he had lots of help. Mike Balensiefen had 15, Kyle Schrader 12, Ryan Schrader 10 and Kenny Lippold 10.

Kaneland 53 Sandwich 57 OT

It was clearly the most exciting game of the year, as the Kaneland Knights were looking for their second straight win in the second round of the Plano Christmas Classic, in game they were suppose to be the underdog. But in the end the number two seeded Sandwich Indians managed to beat the Knights 57-53, but it took overtime for them to do it.

P.J. Fleck had a splendid scoring night as he tied the tournament record by scoring 40 points. He made 16-of-22 shots, with 4 3-pointers and 4-of-5 from the line. However, there is anther side to the story.

While Fleck was shooting 22 shots his teammates only got 21 attempts as a team at the basket. They hit on just five of those. The second highest scorer was fellow guard Ryan Schrader who had 5 points. That means the Kaneland front court scored only 8 points for the evening - in four and a half quarters of basketball.

But the game was nip-and-tuck affair, with the the Indians jumping out to a 16-7 first quarter lead. But the Knights defense tightened up and held Sandwich scoreless for the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second quarter as they tied the score at 16.

From that point the Knights seldom trailed and held a 34-31 lead going into the final quarter. Then with the score tied at 44-44 and one minute to play the Knights held the ball for the final shot. But Kyle Schrader missed an outside jumper as the buzzer went off and game went into overtime.

In OT the Knights took a quick 2-point lead, but the Indians scored 5 unanswered points and the Knights just couldn't catch up.

Rebounding was a problem for the Knights as they had only 16 team rebounds with Eric Delaney leading the effort with 4. Ryan Schrader dished out 4 assist in the losing effort.

While the Varsity was playing in the Plano Classic, the sophomore Knights were playing in the Somonauk Tournament. In a tough game against Newark the Knights took a 7 point lead into the final quarter and hung on to a 46-43 win, to boost their record to 3-5. The Knights had well distributed scoring, led by Robbie Bieritz with 12 points and Chad Sterkel with 11 points. Justin Pauly helped with 9 points, and Scott Pitstick added 7 more, while Pat Albrecht chipped in with 6.

Kaneland 51 Earlville 49

The Knights don't do anything easy as they played just good enough to beat the Red Raiders from Earlville, 51-49. The win, only their third in 11 tries, advanced the Knight to the fifth place game at the Plano Christmas Classic.

Jumping out to quick 14-8 lead, Earlville led 20-17 after one quarter. The Knights then went to sleep as they they didn't score for the entire first half of the second quarter. But once they got going they really got going, as they scored 9 straight points to jump into a short lived 26-25 lead. From that point on it was anybody's game.

Back and forth they went until there were only 11.8 seconds left on the game clock and the Knights holding 51-49 lead. Earlville went for the tieing score, but they failed to score and Kaneland came home with the win.

The Knights showed balanced scoring with Fleck leading the charge with 13 points, (taking only 12 shots compared to 22 the night before). Eric Delaney had 9 points, Mike Balensiefen and Ryan Schrader had 7 each, Kenny Lippold had 6 and Kyle Schrader added 5.

The rebounding was also spread around with Delaney, Balensiefen, and Fleck hauling down 5 each and Ryan Schrader grabbing 4 more boards.

While the Varsity was playing in the Plano Classic, the sophomore Knights were playing in the Somonauk Tournament. In second game of the Tournament the Knights had a rough time as Amboy beat them 41-26. The Knights held scoreless in the third quarter had their lowest output of the season. Justin Pauly had 7 points, while Robbie Bieritz and Pat Albrecht chipped in 6 each accounting for all but 7 of the team's points.

Kaneland vs Byron for Fifth place in the Byron Christmas Tournament (The game of the year!)

In what many thought was the one of the most exciting Kaneland basketball games in recent memory, the Knights took on the Byron Tigers for fifth place in the sixteen team, 36th annual Plano Christmas Classic. It was a game that was close all the way as neither team lead by more than six points all night. And in the end ... well you'll just have to read on to find out what happened in the end.....

The game started like any other game with both teams tied at 9 apiece after the first quarter. In the second quarter the Tigers took a small lead, out scoring the Knights 12-7, but the Knights out scored the Tigers 12-7 in the third quarter, resulting in a 28-28 tie going into the fourth quarter.

The momentum Kaneland gained in the third quarter carried them into the forth as they built up a 5-point lead (their largest) midway through the period at 39-34, thanks largely due to the hot hand of Eric Delaney. Delaney (11 points) who was 0-for-5 to start the game, got hot at the end of the third quarter and hit three shots in a row, plus 2 free throws to carry the Knights for about four minutes.

But the Tigers weren't going to give up as they hit 3 jumpers in a row, and with 1:30 left in the game they were up 40-39. A bad pass by Kaneland and turnover by Byron gave Kaneland the ball with 47.7 seconds left. Then with 21 seconds showing on the clock P.J. Fleck hit a jumper to put Kaneland up by one.

Fleck's counterpart Matt Pendergrass who ended up with 29 points for the night then hit a lean-in with 12 seconds left and was fouled. He made the free throw to give Byron a 43-41 lead.

But, Fleck came right back at the Tigers and with 4 seconds left hit a leaner of his own and he too was fouled. But before Fleck could shoot the free throw, there was a lane violation and Byron got the ball with game tied at 43. The Tigers moved the ball down court, but a last second 3-point attempt fell short forcing the game into overtime.

In OT Byron got two then Fleck got two. Byron got two and Kenny Lippold got two. Byron got two and Lippold got two again. Then with 21 seconds left the Tigers turned over the ball. Fleck got the final shot for the Knights and with time running out he got it off ....... he missed!

Double overtime!

In the second overtime, Byron scored first again, but Shawn Fuller hit two free throws and Fleck hit a big three to put the Knights up 54-51. Add single free throws by Lippold and Ryan Schrader and the Knights were looking good, leading 56-51 with 1:15 left. But a three point play by the Tigers cut the lead to two.

Then with 30 seconds left the Knights missed a open layup that could have put the game on ice. However, they did end up with a free throw a few seconds later for a 3-point lead. But Pendergrass hit a 3-point shot with 20 seconds left to tie the game again.

Tied at 57, Fleck worked for the last second shot ........ he missed!

Moving into the third overtime the gym was packed. There were no seats available and people were watching from the entrances. They were even three deep in the balcony above.

Byron jumped off to a 4 point lead, but Kyle Schrader picked a good time to make his only basket of the night and fouled to turn it into a three point play. The Knights were right back into it. That ended the scoring for the overtime until Fleck got fouled with 45 seconds left. But uncharacteristically he missed both free throws keeping the Knights one point down.

Byron then hit a free throw and with 30 seconds left Fleck hit a short jumper and game was tied again at 62. Lippold then blocked a Tiger shot giving the Knights the ball with 6.2 seconds left. Fleck quickly drove the lane and with time running out took the final shoot .............. he missed!

Fourth overtime.

Despite entering their 8th period of play neither team looked tired. Fleck started things off as he hit a layup. Byron then hit a jumper. Delaney hit two free throws. Byron hit two free throws. Then Pendergrass got two on a drive and Fleck came right back with two free throws. 68-68 with 2-minutes left in the 4th OT.

Then Byron looked like they were going to take charge as they hit a free throw, followed by a field goal and with 1:15 left they led 71-68. But Fleck who finished the night with 38 points hit another jumper and the Knights were within one.

The Tigers tried to stall but Ryan Schrader fouled Matt Leonard and he missed both free throws. Then with just 21 ticks left on the clock Ryan Schrader calmly hit a three from the corner for his seventh point of the evening and Kaneland led 73-71. With the victory in sights the Knights defense tightened as the Tigers worked to get a final shot.

Then with one second left Pendergrass took a off balance three. Win or loss this was finally it - the ball was in the air......

He missed!

1999

The Knights enter the second half of the season with the following records.

Varsity 4-8 (1-4)
Sophomores 3-6 (2-3)
Freshmen 1-4 (1-3)

Kaneland 45 Lemont 56

Darn, just when you thought the Knights were getting it together after a strong showing at the Plano Christmas Classic they lose their first game of 1999 to Lemont 56-45. Lemont which was much bigger than the Knights had two players over 6-6.

"They created some problems for us," said Coach Ken Nearhing. "We needed to have our people inside give us four good quarters." Well he got one, as the Knights led 13-11 after the opening quarter. But Lemont's size wore on the Knights and by the time the final quarter came around the Knights were down 38-34.

But the Knights couldn't get over the hump and were out scored 18-11 in the final quarter accounting for the loss.

Again the Knights had unbalanced scoring while losing. P.J. Fleck had 23, but only Mike Balensiefen was able to score more than five points as he added 9. During the wins in Plano the Knights had balanced scoring. But a common theme for the recent loses is one man accounting for most of the scoring.

Meanwhile the sophomore Knights were also losing to Lemont. Despite a 6-6 tie after one, the Knights were out scored 12-3 in the second quarter and couldn't recover losing 42-31. Justin Pauly lead the Knights with 10 points, Justin Wolbers had 7 points, while Matt Nelson and Pat Albrecht chipped in 6 each accounting for all but 2 of the team's points.

The Freshmen Knights won. Using a different floor combination they beat Lemont handily, 51-32. The game was close in the first half, but the Knights out scored Lemont 32-16 in the second half for the easy win. Dave Schmitt lead the Knights with 16 points and Mike Eck added 13 more. Joe Heyob had 11 points and Joe Montanez helped with 9 more.

Kaneland 67 Westmont 68

Well, the Knights got some balanced scoring, but this time it wasn't enough as Westmont beat them just the same, 68-67. Despite the close final score the Knights trailed by 15 points midway through the fourth quarter when they slammed home 35 points to close to within one as the buzzer sounded.

The big problem for the Knights was scoring only 6 points in the third quarter, resulting for a 49-32 Westmont lead entering the final quarter. But the Knights proved to be scrappers as they tried their best to come back and got the crowd energized.

Four Knights scored in double figures. P.J. Fleck had 26 points, Shawn Fuller added 13 points, Erik Delaney had 12 and Mike Balensiefen 11.

The loss dropped the Knights to 4-10 for the season and 1-6 in the conference and was their second loss in a row.

The sophomore Knights won, beating Westmont 52-50 in a thriller. In a reverse roll of their varsity partners the Knights had the nice lead in the third quarter and it was Westmont who kept battling back. But in the end the Knights prevailed. Justin Pauly led the Knights again, this time with 18 points. Justin Wolbers and Robbie Bieritz added 11 more points each, while Scott Pitstick had 5 points.

Kaneland 63 Evergreen Park 46

Everything was working properly for the Knights in this one as they beat the Evergreen Park Mustangs (5-10, 1-6), 65-46. Kaneland dominated inside, knocked down its free throws and collected 17 steals.

"This is one of the few games where we matched up favorably with the opponent as far as size is concerned," said coach Ken Neahring. "We controlled the rebounding and got some balanced scoring."

P.J. Fleck who had seven points in the first half without a field goal, ended up with 25 for the night. The other scoring was well distributed with Ryan Schrader, Eric Delaney, and Mike Balensiefen all with 8 points each. Wayne Shaw and Al Griffin added 5 more points each and Shawn Fuller pitched in with 4.

"I think this is a confidence-booster," said Fleck. "We haven't been winning lately, and we just wanted to get the winning feeling back."

The sophomore Knights dropped a thriller to Evergreen Park 48-45, in a game that was close the whole way, even though the Mustangs lead most of the game. Justin Pauly's outside shooting help net 16 points for the Knights. Pat Albrecht hit for 12 points and Chad Sterkel added 9 more points.

The Freshmen Knights won, beating EP 48-36, despite trailing 13-6 to start the game. Joe Montanez led all scorers with 17 points, while Nate Hill rang up 5 more. Five Knights scored 4 points each - Mike Eck, Josh Moore, Joe Heyob, Dave Schmitt, Angel Arroyo. Plus Ben Flanders added 3 points to fill out the score sheet.

Kaneland 62 Sycamore 48

The Knights played in the big arena of NIU's Evans Field House Saturday and liked it, as they used a balanced attack to get revenge from an earlier season loss to Sycamore. This time they convincingly beat the Spartans 62 to 48.

The Knights jumped off to an early 13-8 lead after one quarter and bopped it up to 36-19 by half time as both teams tried to adjust to the new surroundings. In the second half the Knights just maintained their lead for the win.

Again the Knights found that a balanced scoring attack will attract victories as 4 players scored 8 or more points. The Knights as usual were led by P.J. Fleck with 26 points (20 in the first half). Help came from Mike Balensiefen with 11, Eric Delaney with 10 and Ryan Schrader with 8.

Kaneland 66 Burlington Central 54

Kaneland 67 Riverside Brookfield 62

Kaneland 34 Ridgewood 57

Kaneland 38 Marengo 58

Kaneland 55 Yorkville 40

Kaneland 68 Westmont 66

Kaneland 69 Lemont 55

Kaneland jumped off to a 21-12 lead in the opening eight minutes - only to fall behind in the second quarter 24-22, before they regained control of the game in the second half, for another SPC White conference win. This time over Lemont, 69-55.

P.J. Fleck keep up his torrid scoring pace with 19 points in second half going 8-for-9 from the floor and finishing the night with 30 points. That despite the fact he was 0-for-4 in the second quarter, a quarter where the Knights scored only 5 points and a stretch were the Injuns out scored Kaneland 20-6.

Kyle Schrader playing point guard in place of his injured brother, Ryan, dished out 11 assist while scoring 13 points including three 3-pointers. Eric Delaney was also a force with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 4 assists.

Brian Zieike came off the bench for 5 points.

The sophomore Knights won, beating Lemont 57-49, thanks in part to a strong forth quarter when they out scored the Injuns 18-11. Justin Pauly with 17 points and Pat Albrecht with 16 points lead the Knights. But they had plenty of help from Chad Sterkel with 11, Justin Wobers with 8, and Robbie Bieritz with 5.

The Freshmen Knights played in their second close game in row, this time losing to Lemont 35-33 to drop their record to 7-10 for the season. The Knights out scored the Injuns 15-11 in the final quarter but just couldn't get the tieing basket as the game ended. Joe Montonez lead all scorers with 12 points. Nate Hill added 5 points and Mike Eck, Brandon Darnold, Dave Schmitt, and Matt Clement had 3 each.

The Freshmen Knights played Evergreen Park in a makeup game and lost 57-33. But plenty of Knights got a chance to score, as 11 players got up on board. Leading scorer was Josh Moore with 6 points, followed by Joe Heyob, Nate Hill, and Angel Arroyo all with 4 points. Joe Montonez had 3 and 6 players had 2 points.

Kaneland 50 Elmwood Park 46

Even though the play overall of the Knights was anything but flashy, the Kaneland senior trio of P.J. Fleck, Eric Delaney and Ken Lippold propelled the Knights to a 50-46 victory over Elmwood Park. Fleck scored 23 points, Delaney 13, Lippold 9 and the rest of the team 5.

The cool thing about the win is that the Knights moved their record to .500 (12-12 and 8-7 in the SPC White conference), something that seemed impossible earlier in the year.

With the team playing lackluster, Fleck turned on the otherwise indifferent crowd in the second half scoring 18 of his 23 points and draining the last four free throws to secure the victory for the Knights.

The Knights where playing without Ryan Schrader and Shawn Fuller, both out with injuries. The Tigers (13-9, 8-6) had beaten the Knights earlier in the season 55-49, and lead at half time 22-18. As a matter of fact, they lead most of the second half, except for the last two plus minutes.

"I told our kids that we seem to have a bad game every four to five games, and tonight was the night," said Kaneland coach Ken Neahring. "I just looked over at our stands and there was just a hush over the crowd. Everyone was just sitting on their hands".

But the Kaneland crowd which was large for senior night, got rolling at end as did the Knights.

The victory was Kaneland's fourth in a row keeps the Knights heading in the right direction with the playoffs just around the corner. "Now we can build from 12-12," said Fleck.

The sophomore Knights won beating Elmwood Park 69-47, in a game that Knights controlled the whole way. The Knights are now 10-11 on the season and 7-8 in the conference. Robbie Bieritz with 17 points and Chad Sterkel with 16 points lead the Knights. Justin Wolbers added 10 points and Matt Nelson banged in 6.

The Freshmen Knights lost EP 40-34, scoring only 4 points in the second quarter. The Freshmen finished the season 8-13 and 7-12 in the conference. Joe Heyob lead the Knights with 10 points and Matt Clement added 6 more. Eight Knights scored for the home team.

Kaneland 62 Evergreen Park 46

The Knights won their last regular season game of the year to finish above .500 (13-12), something few thought they had a chance to do after their 1-7 start. But a strong finish and convincing win over Evergreen Park, 62-46 has raised some eyebrows going into the playoffs.

The Knights took command early leading 13-8 after one quarter and 28-18 at half time. A 14-6 third quarter iced the game for the Knights. The 62-46 win was almost identical to the results earlier in the year when the two teams meet at Kaneland and the Knights won 63-46.

The Knights finished 9-7 in the SPC White Conference spliting wins and loses with every team except EP which they beat both times.

P.J. Fleck lead the Knights with 21 points as 9 Knights scored a rarity this season. Mike balensiefen had 10 points, Ken Lippold 9, Eric Delaney 8 and Kyle Schrader 6. Ryan Schrader returned to action getting just one free throw.

The sophomore Knights lost their final game of the year to Evergreen Park 58-29 to finish 10-12 for the season and 7-9 in the conference. The Knights where out scored in every quarter and were never in the game after the second quarter. There were no individual stats available for the game.

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