Knigge, Magninie lead Potter-Dix charge

Come from behind wins are nothing new in high school basketball. The manner in which Saturday night's game changed in Potter-Dix's favor, however, surprised even those involved.

Down 10-8 at the start of the second quarter, senior guard Bryant Knigge slapped the ball away from his Banner County counterpart. It shot toward the sideline and might have soared into the front row seats, but a referee's leg intervened.

The ball careened back into play-and into the hands of Knigge, who raced all alone for a game tying lay up.

"I guess that proved the ball was going to bounce in our favor," he said with a laugh, trying to explain the freak occurrence.

The transition play fueled a 21-4 Coyotes run, ensuring a 64-45 home win over the rival Wildcats.

Banner County jumped out to an early 9-4 lead on solid shooting by Mike McKown from the outside and Ben Hostetler in the paint. Meanwhile, after an opening flurry, the Coyotes went cold from the floor.

"We didn't have any rhythm at first," Tyler Magninie explained. "Eventually we started to remember team chemistry."

That memory was apparently jogged by Knigge's bizarre fast break to open the second period. Magninie followed up, draining back to back threes then driving the lane for an easy two. Banner County's Tyson Dahlgrin tried to break the spell, hitting a put back on the other end. But the Coyotes responded in force: Sam Bogert rose above traffic to sink a leaner from the bottom of the key, Cameron Purcell nailed a three and Knigge engineered a more conventional steal, stepping in front of McKown on a Wildcats' inbound.

"Basketball is a game of emotion," Jake Johnson said of the second quarter surge. "We got the momentum."

By the halftime break, Potter-Dix had turned a 10-8 deficit into a 29-14 potential rout.

Banner County missed several practice sessions during the week due to weather and at times appeared to struggle. But the Wildcats have a solid core and fought to reverse the tide in the second half.

Midway through the third quarter, for example, Kaden Huber hit a jumper and a bonus, McKown backed the score up with a shot from just inside the arc and Dahlgrin knocked down another put back-a 6-0 mini-run.

Every time the visitors attempted to claw their way back, however, Knigge, who racked up a game high 26 points, and Magninie, responsible for 21 Coyotes' points, would respond with a well-timed three.

"It's always good to get down those threes," Knigge observed. "They swing momentum."

The Wildcats battled Potter-Dix point for point over the final 10 minutes, but could never cut into the Coyotes' advantage.

Brenton Soule put together a personal 4-0 run to open the final period, nudging Banner County within 15 points. But Johnson responded by slashing through the big Wildcats backcourt for two and Knigge purloined another inbound pass, sailing coast to coast for an unopposed lay up. Dahlgrin powered his way to the rim for the visitors, but Johnson answered this affront by blocking an inbound pass under his own basket, corralling the ball, putting it in while drawing a foul.

"Coach always talks about finishing a play," Johnson said. "That's what I did."

The Coyotes were never threatened in the second half, though they never again outran Banner County. The second quarter spree proved to be the difference.

"Friday night we lost together, tonight we'll enjoy this win together," Potter-Dix head coach Chad Miller said. "We'll take the game and keep improving."

Boys Basketball

Potter-Dix 64

Banner Co. 45

Sedgwick Co. 71

Potter-Dix 39

--Stephen McKay

The Potter-Dix Coyotes boys hoop team bagan its season on Friday by yielding 38 first-quarter points on their way to a 71-39 defeat at Sedgwick County.

Sedgwick's outburst proved devastating, despite the fact that Potter-Dix managed to settle down afterward.

Though the Coyotes were more competitive as they outscored the hosts 14-13 in the second eight minutes they had too much to overcome in the final two quarters of play.

"There was a lot of miscommunication and turnovers in the first quarter," said the Coyotes Chad Miller. "Somebody said they only missed two shots the whole first half."

Bryant Knigge scored more than half of the Coyotes points with 20. He was followed on the score sheet by Tyler Magninie with 7 points, Trevor Harms with 5 and Jake Johnson with 4.

Trevor Harms pulled down 4 rebounds while Magninie and Johnson each grabbed 3 each.