LA PORTE CITY – The Union Knights boys basketball team entered 2025 with a 7-1 record. Despite starting the year off collecting another win, the Knights lost their groove and dropped three straight games the week of Jan. 5. Last week, a senior heavy Dike-New Hartford squad came to Union High School on Tuesday, Jan. 14, and looked to attack the Knights while they were down. The Knights instead showed they were ready to right the wrongs from a week prior.

The Knights got rolling fast, feeding senior Eric Neipert in the post. The Wolverines struggled with Neipert’s size and the Knights kept feeding him. Two straight Neipert scores with “and one” opportunities helped the Knights to a 9-0 lead, driving the Wolverines to take an early time-out. That lead would hold strong the remainder of the quarter, with the Knights leading 20-11.

The second quarter saw the Knights attack from every direction. A steal by junior Sawyer Spence and a quick 3-pointer by junior Cam Mullen got the Knights started in the second. Neipert blocked a shot and the Knights were in business again, with Mullen hitting a mid-range jumper. The Knights would finish the half with a commanding 43-26 point lead.

The Wolverines would not go away easily in the second half. They outscored the Knights 17-14 in the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter down by 14 points. Union kept their foot on the pedal. A mixture of threes, effective rebounding, and feeding the post kept the Wolverines searching for answers. They wouldn’t find any, as the Knights came away with the 75-54 win. The 21-point loss was the largest of the season for the Wolverines.

The Knights moved well as a team. They racked up 21 assists on the evening with many of those passes going to the post. Eric Neipert led the team with 21 points followed by junior Caden Sorensen who collected 13-points.

Neipert also led the team in rebounds with eight while Sorensen collected five. Both Sorensen and Spence had multiple steals for the Knights. Cam Mullen went 3-for-6 from deep to lead a Union 3-point shooting attack that sank 50% of their attempts.

On Friday, Jan. 17, the Knights added another win at home, defeating Wapsie Valley 56-45. Union entered this week leading the conference (5-0) and 10-4 on the season. The Knights were set to face non-conference Waverly-Shell Rock on the road on Monday (Jan. 20) before hosting conference foe Oelwein on Tuesday.

Tonight, Friday, Jan. 24, Union heads to Jesup for another conference match-up.