Nov 29, 2025
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Alex Schultz (34) shoots around Berwick’s Brody McCabe (21) during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
HUGHESVILLE–Gavin Knarr put together a breakout sophomore year last winter, but believed something was missing.
So, the Hughesville guard quickly started working soon after the season concluded and found the speed that was the missing ingredient. Saturday afternoon, Knarr literally and figuratively burst onto the area scene. He looked like a different player and Hughesville looked like a different team.
Knarr scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and added five steals as Hughesville defeated visiting Berwick, 55-40 in its season opener. Alex Schultz (13 points, 10 rebounds) produced a double-double, Malachi Flowers shined off the bench, Evan Mackenzie and Jonah Heiney each scored seven points and Gage Webb helped control the inside as Hughesville (3-19 a year ago) opened its season strong.
“I put in a lot of time this offseason, working on speed,” Knarr said. “I was a slow guy last year, and I didn’t really have explosive moments.”
Knarr looked like an Usain Bolt in sneakers Saturday, scoring nine first quarter points, then helping Hughesville land the knockout blow with a dazzling fourth quarter. In those final eight minutes, Knarr scored 12 points, made 7 of 9 shots from the field and line, and added 3 steals.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Gavin Knarr brings the ball around a Berwick defender during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
Equally important, Knarr was a calming influence for a team with three new starters, two a freshman and sophomore. He was potent from outside, off the dribble and/or setting up teammates. Possessing, length, quickness and vision, he helped Hughesville carve up Berwick as the game continued, the Spartans scoring it, 35-22 in the second half.
“Gavin is not a shooter; Gavin is not a slasher, Gavin is a basketball player. Exactly what he did on the court sums that up,” Hughesville coach Cam St. James said. “We’ve never put Gavin in a mold from the time we got him as a freshman to where he is now as a junior. He’s as much a combo guard as we can think of just because there’s nothing he can’t do on a basketball court and we haven’t even gotten to his post game yet.”
Knarr is like an onion in that if defenses gear up to limit one aspect of his game he can peel back another and unleash it. He did just that against Berwick, making 4 of 6 first quarter shots as Hughesville erased an early five-point deficit. And with Hughesville seeking a tone-setting win in the fourth quarter, Knarr helped it drop the hammer.
He hit two 3-pointers, consistently beat defenders off the dribble and finished strong around the basket while earning free throw opportunities. There, Knarr made all four fourth quarter attempts, including two which pushed the lead to 53-40 with 65 seconds remaining and, essentially sealed victory.
Knarr also played tenacious defense in Hughesville’s 1-3-1, making five steals and dealing two fourth quarter assists. Both times Berwick threatened a double-digit lead in that final quarter, Knarr, one of the team’s most experienced players and a team leader now, answered and scored three different ways.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Gage Webb blocks Berwick’s Matt Powers during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
“When it comes to moments like that I just want to help us win the game. I want to do anything I can,” Knarr said. “Last year wasn’t the greatest, so I knew we had to come in with a different mentality this year and make something happen.”
That mentality has spread throughout the roster and Knarr was part of a well-rounded effort. It wasn’t just the plays that he made, but also the ones he didn’t make. Specifically, Knarr protected the ball well, kept Berwick on its heels and played an aggressive, but smart defensive game. He essentially brought both the fire and ice, heating up but staying cool while doing so.
“At halftime, I said we have to own both sides of the paint and Gavin was the one guy able to get their off the dribble, but when he got there he was calm and collected,” St. James said. “He gave everyone time to play off him in that respect. That started with Gavin. He’s a coach’s dream. (We say), ‘We want this, and he says, ‘OK coach, let’s go get this.’”
Knarr lit the fuse, but all the Spartans helped it become a fire, playing much better on both ends during the second half when they turned a one-point deficit into a 35-25 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Spartans closed the third on a 13-2 run and Berwick never pulled within single digits again.
“It was simple as I challenged the guys to bring a different energy (at halftime) and they wanted that. I have to give it to them,” St. James said. “I said in the locker room we can be aggressive; we have our length, but let’s stay disciplined and let’s bring a different level of energy and they brought that. Gavin and Gage and Evan are our captains and they embodied that today.”
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Alex Schultz eyes the basket around a Berwick defender during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
Schultz, like Knarr, built off a quality sophomore season and gave Berwick fits inside, while making five steals. The 6-foot-5 center brought about the biggest crowd reaction three minutes into the second quarter when he intercepted a pass at midcourt, sprinted toward the basket and threw down a monster two-hand dunk which put Hughesville ahead, 16-12.
Heiney, a freshman starting at point guard, and Mackenzie produced consecutive old-school 3-point plays in the third quarter and Webb’s hustling rebound led to a Knarr transition basket in the fourth quarter as Hughesville started putting all the pieces together to complete the victory puzzle.
“That just says what I think this team is going to do for our program,” St. James said. “They’re all buying into each other more than anything. They want to be together; they want to play together.”
Flowers received significant varsity minutes as a freshman last season and built on the promise shown there against Berwick. A defensive ace, Flowers not only helped lift Hughesville on that end, but also by his sheer hustle.
Flowers bloomed through the afternoon, producing six rebounds, two steals and an assist off the bench, highlighting all the traits which comprise a dangerous sixth man. But it was plays which do not show up in the box score, like the deflections, the errant passes he forced and possessions he extended which were especially critical to Hughesville breaking open what had been a close game throughout the first half.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Gage Webb eyes the basket around a Berwick defender during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
“He’s our defender. We rely on him,” Knarr said. “He’s big and long and he gets steals for us that help us make plays on the other end.”
BERWICK (40)
Alex Estrella 5 0-2 11, Brady McCabe 3 1-2 7, Matt Powers 3 0-0 8, Landon Zapata 2 0-0 4, Braiden DiPippa 3 0-0 8, Daiyeudy Sanchez 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 1-4 40.
HUGHESVILLE (55)
Alex Schultz 5 3-6 13, Gavin Knarr 8 6-7 25, Malachi Flowers 0 2-5 2, Kevin Bobak 0 0-0 0, Gage Webb 0 1-4 1, Evan Mackenzie 2 3-7 7, Jonah Heiney 3 1-2 7. Totals 18 16-31 55.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Gavin Knarr brings the ball around Berwick’s Alex Estrella during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
Berwick 9 9 7 15–40
Hughesville 10 10 15 20–55
3-pointers: Berwick 5 (Powers 2, DiPippa 2, Estrella); Hughesville 3 (Knarr 3).
Records: Hughesville 1-0. Berwick 0-1.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Gavin Knarr passes the ball around Berwick’s Matt Powers during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Gavin Knarr (11) is pressured by a pair Berwick defenders during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Evan Mckenzie works to maintain possession of the ball around Berwick’s Matt Powers during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Jonah Heiney (4) reaches for a rebound around a pair of Berwick defenders during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville’s Malachi Flowers (12) looks to pass around Berwick’s Daiyendy Sanchez (23) during a high school boys basketball game at Hughesville on Saturday.
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