TOWAMENCIN – Going into Monday’s matchup with Conwell Egan, the Knights knew that they were in for a battle. The Eagles were fresh off of a state championship season, and a lot of weapons were returning in the backcourt for them.

The Knights showed up ready for a fight, but the physicality and speed of the Eagles was too much to handle, as Egan easily handed the Knights their first loss of the year, 59-41.

It didn’t start off well for the Knights as the Eagles jumped out to an early lead, almost stunning the Knights in the first quarter. At the end of the first, the Knights trailed by a tally of 17-8.

“We did a poor job of defending in the paint and getting defensive rebounds, said senior Jordan Melchior. “They had about 20 points off of offensive rebounds alone.”

North Penn seniors Matt Pickford and Melchior stepped it up in the second period, dropping seven and nine points, respectively. The Knights continued to have no answer for the Eagles’ physicality, and continued to trail at the half.

With their starters getting into foul trouble early in the third, the Knights turned to a core of young bench players to step in and stop the bleeding, which they were able to do. A.J. Mitchell, Jason Prince, and Lance Ford were able to step in and contain a strong and impressive Eagles offense.

“It’s nice to know that if one of us gets into foul trouble that our younger guys can step right in and keep us in the game. We aren’t going to win six deep.” added Melchior. Melchior had 18 points on the day and was one of the Knights who found himself in foul trouble late in the game.

In the end the size, strength and athleticism that the eagles brought to North Penn was too much for the Knights, as they fell 59-41.

“We have to be better rebounding the ball,” Melchior said. “They were a big team but we have to box out, they got almost every single rebound. That can’t happen.”

The 1-1 Knights look to get back above .500 on Wednesday at home against Exeter.