It was pretty clear after one quarter that the Knights would defeat the Northeast Raiders on Teacher Appreciation Knight. The host Knights began the game with a full-court press that was so suffocating that the visiting Raiders struggled to advance the ball past midcourt let alone put it through their basket.

Never has a team wearing festively colorful, crazy socks wreaked such defensive havoc on an unsuspecting opponent.

“Our goal was to pressure the ball to make them put the ball on the floor or force a bad pass,” said junior point guard Emy Chen, who scored a game-high 19 points.

Chen and fellow junior guard Miranda DiGiovanni made sure the goal was achieved. The dynamic backcourt duo formed the front line of the Knight press, creating six steals apiece by game’s end. They earned a significant number of their steal total during the opening frame when they transformed Raider inbound passes and dribble attempts underneath the Knight basket into McCallum layups with clinical efficiency.

“We like to come out with some intensity from the jump,” head coach Carly Kehn said. “It helps us speed up our pace of play and set the tone for the game.”

Sophomore shooting guard Sofia Villaneuva confidently shot and swished a 3-pointer from the baseline to end the quarter, she put an triple exclamation point on an opening quarter that saw the Knights score 19 points while holding their opponents scoreless.

As the team huddled before the second quarter began, Kehn called off the full-court pressure in favor of a zone defense, but even then enthusiastic Knight defenders often met their Raider counterparts well outside the 3-point arc. Given relatively freer access to their offensive end, the Raiders were able to make some baskets, but the Knights widened their lead throughout the game and continued to play hard on both ends.

With the win in hand, Kehn and her players turned to new objectives to make use of the minutes remaining on the clock.

“We went into the game with the goal of working on our spacing,” Chen said. “There was an improvement on that from our last game.”

In previous games, Chen said that a problem was created because players would creep too close to the key and get in each other’s way. When the Knights set offense is humming, senior forward Sam Cowles patrols that area distributing the ball and creating scoring opportunities for herself or for her teammates because she is adept at passing and dribbling.

Cowles demonstrated her versatility throughout Friday’s game with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fellow senior, Lily “Big Shot” Hobbs was a prime beneficiary of the improved spacing. Hobbs scored 11 points, tying the Raiders’ team in that category. She scored in double digits because she found open spaces and shot with confidence from all over the court. Most notably, she drained a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter. Not a game winner perhaps, but a buzzer beater just the same.

Kehn said that her takeaway from the game was that it served as clear evidence of how far the underclassmen have come since joining the varsity at the beginning of the year. Because the score was so lopsided so early in the game, Kehn was able to award bench players more minutes than usual, and they took full advantage.

The combination of increased minutes and improved spacing created moments where virtually everyone on the roster found a clear scoring opportunity and took it with confidence.

“It was a good team win,” Kehn said. “Everyone had good solid minutes, and there weren’t any big dips from one lineup to the next, which is great to see.”

Asked to identify a single player that impressed her, Kehn instead praised her entire bench.

“I think all the underclassmen have grown so much from day one,” Kehn said. “I’ve been very happy with their progress and willingness to learn.”

While the underclassmen have been willing to learn, the upperclassmen have been equally willing to teach, something Kehn said shows the character of her leadership core.

“They just lead with compassion,” Kehn said. “If someone makes a mistake they go talk to them about it or show them how to do it right, especially when all three teams are together. I feel like the underclassmen, especially the freshman, feel like they can ask them pretty much anything on and off the court. They are great at celebrating the underclassmen too and pointing out their accomplishments and willingness to learn.”

Kehn said the underclassmen repay their elders’ generosity in every team huddle during stoppages in play.

“They just thank them for helping them on ball-handling moves or helping them understand the drill or explaining something in more detail,” Kehn said. There are “also a lot of celebrations for them being positive and cheering everyone on.”

After a 61-7 shellacking of LBJ last night, the team remains undefeated in district play and has high hopes of staying that way. Tough tests against district contenders Navarro (Friday at home) and LASA (Tuesday at LASA) loom as hurdles they must clear to finish the district season without a blemish. 

Kehn told MacJ multiple times that this is a special group and therefore this is a special season.

“I told them before the game we need to keep our short-term and long-term goals in mind, but I really want to enjoy the second half of the district with these kids,” Kehn said. They are “truly a remarkable group of kids. They’re just really kind people. They have let me push them, challenge them and demand more from them each day. They want to succeed because they worked hard, not because it was easy, which is awesome to be a part of. I am really proud of them.”

We’ll have more coverage of the team’s senior leaders in the next print issue, available at newsstands and hallways near you soon. Until then, you might make plans to see them in action Friday night at home against the Vikings. Navarro is good and will likely bring out the best in the undefeated frontrunners that will host them. The Blue Brigade will show off its new competition dances at halftime of the varsity game.