Kylee Hess put on a show scoring the basketball with a 19 point game, leading Danville (10-3, 5-1) to a 50-42 win over KMAC rival East Knox (4-8, 1-5) on Jan. 6.
It was a 4-0 lead for Danville early, and when East Knox threatened near the hoop, Kylee Hess stepped up and rejected a shot. After an East Knox basket, Broegan Staats made it a 7-2 lead on a three with 5:20 left in the first quarter. Jaylyn Smith drilled a three for Danville to go up 12-6. Grace Gronberg had a steal for Danville but they couldn’t turn it into points. Molly Totten then responded a three of her own for East Knox, making it 12-9 at the end of the first.
East Knox tied the game 12-12 with a three for Natalie Smith. Danville hit a free throw to go up by one, and then Gronberg recorded her second steal of the night. Tied 15-15, Hess got her hand on a pass and recovered for a steal. East Knox had a 23-20 lead, but Hess grabbed another steal and took it to the hoop to cut the lead to one with 2:17 left in the half. East Knox had an 18-12 advantage in the half led by Smith’s 10 points, and it was a 27-24 Bulldog lead at halftime.
Danville outscored the Bulldogs 10-9 in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter East Knox was up 36-34 when Hess blocked a shot near the basket. East Knox had a 38-35 lead and Danville’s defense continued to step up with Ella Proper recording a block. Hess then cut the Bulldog lead down to three after a steal and a fast break layup, making it a 42-39 game in favor of East Knox. Danville outscored East Knox 15-6 in the fourth to take an eight-point win.
Danville shot 31% and 14% from three, while East Knox shot 26% and 19%. The Blue Devils hit 71% of their foul shots and East Knox hit 50%. East Knox led 43-37 in boards and 10-9 in assists, but Danville had the upper hand in steals 10-7 and blocks 3-2.
Hess scored 19 points to lead all scorers. Gronberg and Proper each scored eight points, Staats had seven points, Smith had five points and Addison Mickley scored three points.
East Knox was led by Totten’s 12 points, while Natalie Smith also hit double figures with 10 points.
Danville travels to Mount Gilead (6-5, 4-2) for another KMAC matchup on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs travel to Mount Vernon on Jan. 10 for a 7 p.m. matchup.
