Knott Survives Estill 43-39 to Reach 14th Semis

Patriots Advance in Grind-It-Out Win.

Stanton, Kentucky – February 25, 2019, Brendon D. Miller – Bluegrass Sports Nation

It surely wasn’t pretty, but the Knott Central Patriots outlasted the Estill Engineers in the opening game of the 2019 14th Region Tournament. Knott came in as both the 14th Region All-A Classic and 54th District Champions at 22-9. Estill came to Stanton as the 56th Runners-up with hopes of making another magical run to a Region Championship like 2018.

Knott jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the 1st Quarter on the back of two threes by Gannon Couch and another by Kent Damron. Estill then fought back in the 2nd Quarter behind Junior point guard Joe Benton who had eight in the Quarter to set the score at the half, Knott 24 – Estill 21.

The 3rd Quarter was a tight battle with Benton propelling the Engineers to a lead early in the half and adding eight to his total. Branson Couch lead the Patriots sever of his team high 10. Entering the final period, Knott lead 38-33.

In the Final Quarter, Estill could not cut into the Patriot lead as the teams only combined for 11 points. Benton added six more on two threes, to het his game-high total at 24. Patriot point guard Darren Whitaker scores his only three points of the night in the period to seal the win.

Scoring:

KNOTT: Team – 1st Quarter 16; 2nd Quarter 8; 3rd Quarter 14; 4th Quarter 5; Total – 43. Individual – Branson Couch 10; Gannon Couch 9; Kent Damron 9; Josh McGuire 8; Khalil Slone 4 and Darren Whitaker 3.

ESTILL: Team – 1st Quarter 7; 2nd Quarter 14; 3rd Quarter 12; 4th Quarter 6; Total 39. Individual – Joe Benton 24; Landon Napier 8; Cobbe Click 3; Micah Adams 2; and Dyllon Long 2.

Knott Central advances to take on Perry Central on Friday at 6:00 pm.