Pine Crest five-star guard Brandon Knight put on a performance at the Dr. Martin Luther Classic Jr. Classic on Saturday night that will be talked about for years. Unfortunately for Pine Crest, Knight’s game-high 41 points, including 18 in a riveting fourth-quarter scoring spree, wasn’t enough to stop Dillard from sweeping the season series between the reigning state champions.

Dillard guards Sherman Gammage and Courtney Ojeda thwarted a potential game-winning shot by tying up Knight with a double-team on the final play as Dillard held on for a 74-73 victory at Boyd Anderson.

Gammage said Dillard (14-3, ranked No. 1 in 5A) had no doubt Pine Crest (11-2, ranked No. 1 in 3A) would draw up a play for Knight, who showed why he is ranked No. 2 in the 2010 class by Rivals.com and ESPNU Super 60, coming out of their final timeout with 4.5 seconds left.

“We knew Brandon was going to get the ball so we knew had to double team him because he was their big scorer,” said Gammage, who finished with nine points. “All our coaches told us to trap him. We work on it in practice. That is what we do.”

Up until that point, Dillard had no answer for Knight, who shook off a scoreless first quarter to score 18 of his team’s 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Only eight days before at a Dillard practice, Dillard coach Darryl Burrows lauded Knight’s ability to feel out an opponent’s defensive plan and make the necessary adjustments.

Burrow’s insight proved prophetic as Knight took over the game in the final period. Knight opened the fourth with a three-pointer that put Pine Crest up 56-55 and went on to score 11 straight points.

“My shot wasn’t falling in the first half,” Knight said. “I came out shooting a lot of forced shots. I tried to get to the basket after that and it ended up working out. I had a better second half than the first but I could have been a lot better.”

Fred Landers had a team-high 22 points for Dillard, the reigning 5A champs, while senior guard Robert Burger added 21, including his fourth three-pointer with 5:48 left to open a tenuous four-point lead. Ojeda had nine points.

Pine Crest, the reigning 3A champs, got 11 points from 6-5 forward Ed Waite, and seven each from Traveon Henry and Billy Thompson Jr.

Jerimiah Eason answered with a layin before Knight continued his onslaught with a three-point play and followed a Jeremiah Bell steal with a putback to pull Pine Crest within 74-73 with 1:30 left.

Pine Crest got the ball back when Gammage’s pass to Robert Burger went out of bounds but failed to capitalize as Waite was called for traveling off an inbounds play with 38.5 seconds left.

Burger went to the line with a chance to make it a three-point lead with 12.5 seconds left but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Knight pushed the ball upcourt but missed a layup and was tied up after getting his own rebound. Pine Crest retained possession on the jump ball and opted for it’s final timeout.

“Brandon’s performance was typical," Burrows said. "The kid can flat-out play. We knew we were going to jump him with a double team on the final play. He ended up getting it and we ended up coming out victorious. It came right down to the end which it should. You are talking about two state champions that hopefully will be right back in Lakeland in the next month and a half."

Dillard jumped out to a 24-11 lead behind the play of Landers and Burger, who combined for 13 first quarter points but Pine Crest went on a 8-2 run at the end of the second quarter to get back in the game. After Landers converted a layup to push the lead to 36-24 with 3:08 left, Knight converted a three-point play and reserve forward Thompson Jr. hit a wide-open three to beat the buzzer as Pine Crest pulled within 38-32 at halftime.

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