The Nuggets charged hard at the Knicks during the third and fourth quarters but it wasn’t enough to erase their slow start as the Knicks held on to win 33-28 in the 11-12-year old division of the Washington Youth Basketball League Saturday.
The Knicks benefited from a balanced attack as Javon Parker scored a team-high eight points, while Justin Powell, Will Warren and Dylan Clark added five, Shane Clark tallied four, Jare Jackson chipped in two and Thomas Perry scored one.
Parker was solid all game long as he routinely broke down defenders off the dribble for the Knicks and played strong on the defensive end of the court.
“Javon brings energy to the game,” Knicks coach Equarn Oden said. “He gets his team involved and on defense he can really cover.”
The Knicks got off to a tremendous start as Dylan Clark scored five points in the first quarter to power them to a 10-2 lead heading into the second.
After the first quarter the Nuggets began to heat up as they tallied five points, but the Knicks racked up nine to go into halftime up 19-7.
“In the first half we just executed well,” Oden said. “We had our strongest guards apply pressure on defense and it created some turnovers.”
After falling behind by 12 points, the Nuggets bounced back big time in the second half.
The Nuggets began the third quarter with a 6-1 run and cut the Knicks lead to 20-13 after Quashawn Gaynor went 2-2 from the free throw line.
Gaynor was clutch for the Nuggets as he scored seven of his nine points in second half. Gaynor’s teammate Jared Hardy was equally sensational as he racked up a game-high 10 points.
“I told (Hardy) if you hustle and do what I say you will get playing time and you will also get a lot of points,” Nuggets coach Gino Downing said. “And he gave a lot of effort tonight. He crashed the backboards and got a lot of steals.”
Jordan Barnes added five points for the Nuggets, while Jabari Carr and Jack Baltz each scored two.
The action heated up in the fourth as the Nuggets ripped off a 10-1 run to start the quarter and trailed only 27-26 after Gaynor layup at the 3:10 mark.
“Once they settled down they played some good basketball,” Downing said. “I really believe when were playing the way we can that we can win it all.”
As the Knicks lead began to crumble Will Warren was there to pick up the pieces as he scored back-to-back buckets to extend the Knicks lead to 31-26.
The Nuggets inched closer as Hardy hit another shot, but Powell sealed the deal for the Knicks as he swished a mid-range jumper to go ahead 33-28.

Knicks 10 9 7 7 — 33
Nuggets 2 5 9 12 — 28
Knicks (33)
Shane Clark 4, Ganeryan Parker 3, Dylan Clark 5, Justin Powell 5, Jare Jackson 2, Thomas Perry 1, Javon Parker 8, Will Warren 5.
Nuggets (28)
Jared Hardy 10, Jordan Barnes 5, Quashawn Gaynor 9, Jabari Carr 2, Jack Baltz 2.