Both Knoxville Basketball Squads will make the annual trip to Des Moines for games against Newton at Wells Fargo Arena. The two schools have played in Des Moines for four of the last five seasons and it always is a fun trip that includes an Iowa Wolves game that night. Today is no different, but both Knoxville teams are also seeing this as a business trip. The girls are coming off a loss to Bondurant-Farrar Thursday night and need a win to recapture momentum heading into the regionals that start in two weeks. Coach Matt Ritchhart tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that while the girls will have fun playing in a 15,000 seat arena, he wants them to be focused for the Cardinals.

Ritchhart: “Most important thing is we need a win. We’ve won 12 games so far so if we can win the last two before postseason and get to 14 that’ll be a step in the right direction for this program, so we need to get a win.”

The Cardinals have struggled this season but Ritchhart cautions any team that plays in the Little Hawkeye Conference is better than their record indicates. For the boys, the Panthers are heavy underdogs to the 5th ranked Cardinals in class 3A. Panthers Coach Troy Pearson tells KNIA/KRLS Sports while taking in the experience, he wants this team to play like they have nothing to lose…

Pearson: “I don’t know if anyone is expecting us to do anything special, but I know we will come out and play hard. It’s a great experience to go up there and be in NBA locker rooms. We get there a little earlier so the kids can take pictures and get that out of the way before we go out and play a game.”

Hear all of the action live on 95.3 KNIA starting with the pregame at 12:15.