HOWARD – It was early 1991.
The United States military was fighting in the Gulf War. Cleveland Municipal Stadium was still home to the Browns and the Indians. The Cincinnati Reds were the reigning world champions and the Cincinnati Bengals had just won their last postseason game.
It was also the last time that East Knox got out of the sectional rounds in basketball ... until Saturday, Feb. 27, that is. The Bulldogs surged in the second half to take down visiting archrival Danville 45-34 in a Division IV district tournament second-round showdown at The Pound.
“We’ve been a second half team all year, for some reason,” East Knox coach Ryan Powell said. “We kind of wait to pick up our intensity.”
The fifth-seeded Bulldogs were led by senior Weston Melick with 16 points and junior Shane Knepp, who scored 11 points. Melick dropped 10 of his points in the first half and Knepp had eight of his in the second half. Each took charge, helping to direct the Bulldogs on both ends of the court.
“That’s part of being on this team for four years,” Melick said. “Coach Powell knows what I like to do, and I know what he likes to call in certain situations. We have that good chemistry and that helps us out. It’s just easier, once you learn everything and know it by heart.”
With the game tied at 20 at the half, both teams struggled until the middle of the third quarter. That’s when the Bulldogs clamped down on defense, holding the Blue Devils to a single basket and a free throw by sophomore Max Payne, who scored seven points for the game.
Darren Mickley was the Devils’ top scorer with nine points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers in the first half. Mickley was held scoreless in the second half, while teammate Aaron Mezie scored four points for Danville in the final quarter.
“I think we lost a lot of focus in the third quarter,” Danville coach Matt Moore said. “We only scored three points in the third quarter. That definitely hurts. We had plays and we had sets to score and we missed lay-ups. There were little plays we didn’t make that we should’ve made.”
East Knox got a 3-pointer from Terry Jacobs and a 2-point bucket from junior Peyton Lester, along with field goals from Melick and Knepp. That staked the Bulldogs to a 32-23 advantage as time ran out in the third quarter. Lester and Jacobs each had seven points for the game for East Knox.
Melick scored to extend the margin to 36-23 early in the final quarter to give the Bulldogs their largest lead. East Knox stayed in front the rest of the way in a physical contest.
“We just had to stay strong mentally,” Melick said. “If you can stay strong mentally and keep your teammates involved, you’re going to be successful."
The Bulldogs, who were only recently quarantined due to COVID-19, had to cancel their second regular-season game against the Blue Devils. Perhaps playing Danville in the postseason gave East Knox that extra burst of energy.
“We sat out during the quarantine and we just got anxious, sitting at home dribbling the basketball, passing off the wall,” Melick said. “We got back and had two practices, and we had a lot of energy that helped us out.”
The season is over for Danville, but they look forward to bringing back all of their starters next year.
The Bulldogs will go on the road to meet a regional nemesis, third-seeded Newark Catholic, in the district semifinal on Tuesday, March 2.
