Katella Gets Back Some of Its Early Momentum in Win

It is hard to consider that a team with 20 victories in 23 games would consider itself to be struggling.

Katella picked up the pace Wednesday to defeat Loara, 68-57, at Katella.

Katella had been struggling since coming back from the Christmas break, winning just four of seven since beginning the season 16-0.

The win moved Katella (20-3, 5-2) into sole possession of first place in the Empire League with three games to play. And it was the kind of game the Knights--who won despite several lapses that led to 21 turnovers and getting outrebounded 33-25 by the smaller Saxons--needed to win.

It was a victory in which Katella overcame obstacles.

“Tonight we played a better four quarters overall than we have in some time,” Katella Coach Tom Danley said. “We seemed to want the game more than they did. We still did not play as well as we did before the break, but tonight was better.”

What was good for Katella was the scoring punch of Matt Tisthammer and Robert Abercrombie, with 19 and 18 points respectively. Katella had a 10-2 spurt in the final two minutes of the second quarter to take a 32-24 halftime lead.

The only time Loara (17-6, 4-3) made Katella nervous was during a five minute stretch in the third quarter. The Saxons employed a full-court trap that forced several turnovers, and used a 13-7 run to get as close as 39-35.

But Katella came back with a 9-2 run to close out the quarter and go back up, 48-37. Loara never got closer than eight points after that.

“You can rely on that kind of pressure for so long before a good team like Katella will break it down,” Saxon Coach Ed Prange said.

“Our problem was falling behind so early that we had to rely on those traps. We dug too deep a hole for ourselves, We’re not a great scoring team, so we depend on defense. But against Katella, you have to do it on both ends.”

Loara’s best weapon was Brian Brennan, who led all scorers with 21 points. But Mike Banda (10) was the only other Saxon to reach double figures.

In other Empire League games:

El Dorado 56, Century 52 (2 OT)--After missing shots at the end of regulation and the first extra session, El Dorado gained control in the second overtime as the Golden Hawks knocked off the host Centurions. El Dorado’s Mike Gartner scored 16 points and Ryan Carlos had 13.

Century’s Terrail Zoller led all scorers with 22 and collected nine rebounds.

Kennedy 53, Cypress 45--Tony Jimmerson scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds in a victory for Kennedy (13-10, 4-3). Travis Weaver scored 13 points for Cypress (7-15, 2-5).