Coach Bet Naumovski and the Lady Knights are seeking to shrug their basketball struggles they had over recent years, as the new faces in the team make winning games a priority.
With only one returning player from last years squad, the Lady Knights will be focusing on winning games, something they were only able to do one time last year. Their offensive struggles led them to an overall 1-25 record. (0-16 conference)
“We definitely want to finish on the top of our conference,” said Naumovski about her team’s goals.
Although recent stats show bad things to come, The Knights do show signs of a winning appetite to start off the campaign, as they were victorious numerous times in the Clarion LaGuardia Tip Off Tournament, which was hosted by the Knights on November 9th and 10th in Townsend Harris High School gym.
The Lady Knights were led by senior guard Bria Jackson, who aid the Knights to an impressive victory against Concordia, as she racked up 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on a 74-53 victory. The strong defensive game couldn’t be ignored as the Knight’s defense limited the Concordia’s offense to just five points in the last 10 minutes of the game.
On the following day, Jackson again led the team in scoring as she racked up 18 points and had no turnovers in a victory over Post 65-46. The Lady Knights again showed a strong defense as Post was only limited to shooting 35% shooting.
“Bria Jackson is our engine,” said Naumovski about Bria’s performance. “She is every coaches dream. This is the way you want to start off the season.”
Jackson’s offensive skills and defensive abilities can only pleasure the struggling offense the Knights had last year.
For her efforts, she was honored as the ECC Player of the Week for her performance in the tournament.
More star shining is coming this year to the Knights locker-room as Mackenzie Rowland was also honored as the Rookie of the Week for her performance in the tournament.
Her performance against Concordia included a double double on her team’s debut. She collected 13 points, and collected 5 steals, and 13 rebounds of which 10 came on the defensive end.
Rowland’s second game was just as impressive as she collected 9 points and 9 rebounds against Post.
The impressive victories came even after Hurricane Sandy limited the team to the facility in their own gym, as the Fitzgerald Gym was being used as a helping facility to many that lost access to their homes during the hurricane.
The Lady Knight’s campaign will November 17, as the team will fly to Philadelphia where they will open the season against Holy Family University.
