Knoch heads to the Finals for the first time since 2004 after a wire to wire victory over North Catholic. The two section foes split the regular season series, but Knoch came out on top with a statement win in this third and final battle. All five starters scored in double figures and Teegan Finucan became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the win.
Derrick Lang got things started for the Knights with an and-1 and another layup shortly after to put Knoch up 4-0. After a steal and layup by Roman Defelice, the Knights were up 6-0 in a hurry.
Lang scored again with the turnaround push shot to put Knoch up 8-0. With North Catholic having mostly guards on the floor, the 6’8” Lang had a big advantage inside and he made the most of it throughout the first quarter.
Lang crashed the offensive glass and got fouled on the put back. He made both to give him 8 of Knoch’s 10 points to start the game. Lang spoke to his fast start after the game saying, “This is a moment I’ve been wanting since my freshman year. I just felt like if I took charge, everyone would follow”.
And follow they did. The Knights held North Catholic scoreless for over three minutes until they finally got on the board at the 4:30 mark of the 1st quarter with a three from Jason Fredericks.
Teegan Finucan scored inside and Roman Defelice drained a three to make it 15-3 in favor of Knoch. Vinnie Defelice got in on the action, drawing the foul and heading to the line with 1:22 left in the first.
North Catholic finally got things going late in the quarter and responded with 6 quick points, including a late triple from freshman, Brandon Pickett, but after one it was the Knoch Knights up 17-9.
North Catholic cut into the Knoch lead to start the second quarter with Pickett hitting the corner jumper, but Roman Defelice answered with an and-1 to put Knoch up 20-11.
Fredericks hit another three ball, but Knoch answered again, with Liam Avon scoring on the drive. Finucan scored again as well, spinning through the lane for two more and stretching the Knoch lead to 26-14.
Lang continued his career game with a big block on defense and a triple at the other end. The Knoch big man was on fire in the first half, leading all scorers with 11 points, as Knoch was now way ahead, 31-14 with 2:30 to go.
After two more for Finucan and a three from Vinnie Defelice, Knoch stretched their lead to 20 and headed into the half up 36-16. North Catholic is one of the highest scoring teams in the WPIAL, so holding them to 16 was a huge defensive accomplishment for Knoch.
Head Coach, Joe Lafko, spoke to that after the game saying, “We played our 2-3 zone and forced them to shoot and stay on the perimeter. We thought that if we could control some of the easy shots they take off dribble penetration and easy looks, whether it’s on the perimeter or inside, it would give us a good chance to win. I thought we did a good job of that tonight”.
Down 20 and needing to catch fire in a hurry, North Catholic looked to their leading scorer, Jason Fredericks, who drained a three to start the second half.
Avon answered for Knoch, but Jude Rottmann cashed in from three on the other end for North Catholic to make the score 38-22 in favor of the Knights. Knoch put down any sort of North Catholic comeback attempt quickly though as Roman Deflice found Avon on the cut inside and got the steal and score soon after to get the lead back to 20 for Knoch.
After the Knoch miss, there was a scramble for the ball, but Vinnie Defelice ended up with it and got the putback to fall. Knoch was winning the effort battle so far in this one, as it seemed like all of the 50/50 balls and offensive rebounds were ending up in their hands.
Lang scored again inside and Knoch took a 48-27 lead with 1:47 left in the third. North Catholic just wasn’t hitting their threes tonight. They struggled against Elizabeth Forward in the quarterfinals for three quarters and they struggled again tonight. They're usually a very high pace and high scoring team, but when the three ball is not falling it makes it hard for them to generate offense.
Fredericks got the and-1 to go with 37 seconds left in the 3rd as he tried to inject some momentum into his team heading into the 4th quarter. With North Catholic over the foul limit. Lang found himself back at the line and hit both to put Knoch up 52-32 after three.
Finucan started the quarter with two more for Knoch and Fredericks responded with pull-up from the elbow to keep the Knoch lead at 20.
Vinnie Defelice scored off the feed from Lang to stretch the lead. North Catholic managed to get the steal in the score, but they still trailed by a wide margin early in the 4th.
Avon scored again to put Knoch up 59-36. Lang made his presence felt on the defensive end as well tonight, getting a huge block off the glass as Knoch continued to dominate in every facet of this game.
Vinnie Defeflice scored back to back buckets, with the second one being an and-1 as the Knoch lead approached the 30 point mark.
Late in the game, Teegan Finucan scored inside to become the all-time leading scorer in Knoch history. During his postgame interview, his teammates draped their warmup jerseys over him as Finucan gave them all the credit saying, “It’s my team. Everything about my team. I mean look at these guys. I love them to death”.
Coach Lafko spoke to Finucan’s accomplishment as well saying, “I’m so happy for Teegan. It’s such an accomplishment whenever you are in a big score or program, like in class 4A, 5A, or 6A where it’s rare that you play early on and the competition is really strong. It’s rare to see a player score at that kind of level, but I’m so proud of Teegan”.
Finucan showed off the passing late in the game as well on a no-look dish inside for two more Knoch points. Fredericks got another and-1 to go, but the game was already well out of reach.
Both teams emptied their benches and Knoch went on to win 70-46 in a game where they led the entire way and all five starters finished in double figures. The Knights advance to the finals for the first time since 2004, where they will play the top seeded Quaker Valley Quakers in the 4A championship.