Robbinsville – A season-opening loss to Cherokee has long been forgotten by the middle school Black Knights.
In its latest triumph, Robbinsville (3-1) swatted the Hayesville Yellow Jackets 33-26 on Monday afternoon, in a defensive showcase that included limiting the visitors to just seven points in both the second and third quarters.
“The focus has been getting better and we’re not there if Cherokee beats us like that,” Black Knights head coach Warren Knott said. “It all starts on defense. If we can’t play that, we’re not going to beat teams anyway.”
The Knights began the game hot, with a quick layup from Dane Knott and an Isiac Collins’ trey opening a fast 5-0 lead. Though the Jackets were able to trim the deficit to 8-7 by the end of the period, Robbinsville kept pounding the boards in the second, not giving Hayesville a chance to establish a presence inside.
In turn, the Black Knights led 18-12 at halftime, then built the lead to 28-14 in the third.
“There’s no point in killing yourself playing defense and then not rebound,” coach Knott added.
“The focus at halftime was cleaning up our rebounding, and I think we did much better with that in the second half.
“I’m so proud of the boys. We’ve just got to keep working hard at practice and getting better.”
Dane Knott’s 12-point game led the scoreline. Others contributing to the cause were Tillman Adams 8, Isiac Collins 7 and Owen Blevins, Dane Daniels and Luke Lovin with 2 each.
Meanwhile, the middle school Lady Knights (1-2) could not get their offense rolling in Monday’s opener against Hayesville, as turnovers proved costly in a 30-12 loss. Daphne Barlow led Robbinsville with six points, while Novie Dutcher, Zaelyn Phillips and Abby Wehr put up a bucket each.