The Moon Area boys basketball team faced a tall task Saturday night in its second game of the Geneva College/Lincoln Park Tipoff Tournament.
Tall as in 7-feet and 6-foot-8.
That’s the size that the Knoch Knights brought to the court Saturday in the person of Zane Pacek and Derek Lang, but Moon proved to be up to the challenge in posting a 63-56 victory.
The win enabled the Tigers to break even in the two-game tournament after dropping a 74-54 decision to Imani Christian Friday night.
Mike Santicola led four Moon players in double figures Saturday with 17 points as the Tigers – the defending WPIAL Class 5A champions – built a 27-21 lead after two quarters, then increased their margin by outscoring the Knights 20-15 in the third quarter.
Santicola scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half for the Tigers, who shot 23 free throws – converting 17 of them – to just 11 for Knoch.
Amir Turner added 13 points for Moon while Carter Tumulty and Braeden Stuart each contributed 12 for the Tigers.
Jackson Bauman paced Knoch with 18 points while Lang, Pacek and Teegan Finucan each added 10.
Moon coach Gino Palmosina said his team was a little upset with the way things turned out Friday night but they responded positively Saturday.
“Knoch is a very well-coached team and they’re the favorite in Class 4A for a reason,” he said. “But we hunkered down defensively in the first half and held them to 21 points. And we executed offensively and made some key shots.”
Palmosina said the Tigers made it a point of emphasis to try to keep the taller Knights off the boards. “We didn’t give up too many offensive rebounds,” he said. “We cleaned up on the glass well enough.”
Knoch played a different style than Imani Christian, which employed plenty of ball pressure.
“Playing against two different styles is good for us,” Palmosina said. “We were outsized, but they got into some foul trouble, which was to our benefit.”
The Tigers return to action at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, against Penn Hills in the Central Catholic Tipoff Tournament.
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