Pruter/Bubany Lead Knights Past R-P

This year is set to be Tom Vix’s last at R-P.  Over the last five seasons, one of the squads his teams have feasted on, going 8-0, has been Kingsland.  In the squads’ final get-together with Vix coaching R-P, the script flipped.  A pair of Kingsland guards authored a going away present, just before the holidays; a Knight win.  Junior Wyatt Pruter and senior Zach Bubany scored Kingsland’s first 16 points, stoking the home team to a 16-8 early lead.  But R-P used its defense for a patented Trojan spurt, a 17-1 prolonged run.  Kingsland had a mere free throw make over 13 mid-first-half possessions (five TOs, 0-11 FGs). Late, R-P led 25-17.  But Kingsland critically ended on a 7-2 run.  They trailed 27-24 at halftime.  They weren’t going away and didn’t.  Pruter hit two threes out of the break.   The Knight defense held R-P to four points (2-14 FGs) over an 18-possession stretch.  With 5:00 left, team double-K led 43-35.  R-P scored the next four to get to 43-39 (3:54).  The Knights scored on their final seven possessions.  A Bubany three (2:36) was big (46-39).  Then came a Bubany to Ian Meisner pass and score (48-39).  Trojan senior Jake Paulson tried to play hero, hitting two tough threes in the final two minutes.  The last made it a 52-47 (0:33.3).  But subsequently amidst the press, Bubany found Meisner who found Jordan Beck for a bunny (54-47), the game-sealing play.  John Fenske’s bunch got a big early season section win, 56-47.  Pruter, a 5’11 junior, had a game-high 21 points (5-9 threes).  Bubany (17 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assists) had his best overall game of the year.  Meisner was a defensive wall (6 pts, 7 rebs, 5 blks).  Knight reserves didn’t put up huge numbers (6 pts, 11 rebs), but they eclipsed a thin Trojan bench (0 pts, 3 rebs).  Paulson posted a career-high 19 points (8-16 FGs).  Landon Skalet added 10.   Bigger Kingsland critically won the boards (34 to 22) and the free throw line (8 of 14 to 2 of 7).   Seven of 12 teams in the TRC head to Christmas on the plus side of .500 overall; St. Charles (5-0, 8-0), W-K (5-0, 5-2), #3 in AA Caledonia (4-0, 6-0), La Crescent (4-1, 4-3), PEM (4-2, 7-2), Kingsland (3-4, 6-4), and D-E (1-3, 4-3).  R-P sits at 1-3, 3-3.   Five other teams have just two wins or less; L-A (1-3, 1-5), FC (1-3, 1-6), Southland (1-4, 2-4), Chatfield (1-4, 2-6), and Cotter/Hope Lutheran (0-4, 2-5).