The Nordonia Knights basketball team has had a spectacular season, with an undefeated record on the road and a home record tied at 3-3. Unfortunately, the Knights fell to the Blue Devils on Tuesday, January 31st with a score of 73-68.
Joey Palinkas started the game off with a 2 point lead for the Knights with 6:45 remaining in the 1st quarter. The Blue Devils immediately scored back, tying the start of the game at 2 points. The tied score followed with both teams throughout the game, as the first quarter ended in a tie of 19-19.
Blue Devils’ Trey Drexler started the 2nd quarter out with a 3 point shot, giving the Blue Devils a lead with 7:10 remaining in the 2nd. The Knights went scoreless for a while; 7 minutes and 4 seconds without any points scored for the Knights. With 5 minutes and 36 seconds left in the 2nd quarter, we still didn’t see any points from the Knights; until Landon Naylor struck with his 2 point shot. At the half, the Knights were facing an 8 point deficit of 37-28.
Throughout the 3rd quarter, the Knights were faced with a 9 point deficit. With shots from Liam Gopalakrishna, Joey Palinkas, and Landon Naylor; the Knights were starting out strong. The team was coming out of a hard first half and showing redemption, with confidence residing in their defense and offense. But, Brunswick still had a lead of 11 points at the end of the 3rd quarter, making the score 54-43.
Knights’ Landon Naylor was quick to deliver the 1st points for the Knights in quarter 4, but Blue Devils’ Tommy Morgan replied with a 2 point shot. With 5 minutes and 51 seconds remaining in the game, Joey Palinkas scored on a lay-up. Palinkas then got to step up to the foul line to throw a 1 point shot after a foul on Blue Devils’ Mikey Mog. Although the Knights had put up a fight against the non-conference Brunswick Blue Devils, it seemed they couldn’t pull it out in the 4th quarter. They fell short to the Blue Devils at 73-68.
The game also featured the Nordonia High School Pep Band and a halftime performance from the Nordonia High School varsity cheerleading squad.
The Nordonia Knights varsity men’s basketball team will hit the road against the Hudson Explorers (5-13) on Friday, February 3rd at 7:30 pm at Hudson High School in Hudson, OH. They will return home on Saturday, February 4th at 7:30 pm versus the Aurora Greenmen at Nordonia High School in Macedonia, OH.
