Knights start season with win over Golden Eagles

North Platte, Neb. – Despite the delay, the Knights finally got the opportunity to start their regular season on Friday night against Laramie County Community College. North Platte used an 8-2 run in the opening minutes and cruised to a 66-47 victory.  

"I thought our defensive effort and intensity propelled us to the win tonight," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "We did a really good job of controlling the tempo and forcing them into tough shots."

In the opening three minutes, Kayla Pope found a cutting teammate Diamond Moore-Heath in the lane for an open layup to push their lead to six, 8-2. The Golden Eagles cut the deficit down to one possession by the midway point of the first quarter. North Platte quickly responded shutting down Laramie County for the remaining 4:21 and closing the quarter on a 11-0 run.

The Knights continued their run into the second quarter extending their lead to twenty as Moore-Heath collected the offensive rebound and laid it off the glass for two, 27-7. Golden Eagles quieted the North Platte run with back-to-back buckets, but the Knights closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to take their largest lead into the break, 36-13.

Golden Eagles found their rhythm offensively to start the third quarter cutting the deficit down to eighteen with 6:43 remaining. A corner three by Brauer halted the momentum shift and pushed the Knights lead back to twenty-one, 42-21. Laramie County kept their momentum going despite the bucket and went on an 8-1 run to trim the deficit down to fourteen with 2:43 to play in the quarter, 43-27. North Platte's offense answered with a 7-2 run of their own and closed the quarter on a three pointer by Madison Heinzen.

The Knights run continued into the fourth quarter as back-to-back buckets by Jada Ballard and Moore-Heath extended the lead back to twenty-five, 56-31. The Golden Eagles attempted one last run and trimmed the deficit to eighteen with 4:26 to play, but the Knights defense answered and closed out the final minutes to secure the 66-47 victory.

Moore-Heath finished the night with her first double-double of the season totaling 15 points and ten rebounds in twenty-eight minutes of play. Pope and Brauer rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Knights with 15 and 14 points, respectively.  

Knights (1-0) will return to the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium tomorrow afternoon at 2pm to take on Eastern Wyoming College.