RALEIGH — After a round-one thriller that had Knightdale fans thinking trophy stage, Centennial (Ga.) had other plans for the second round matchup Monday.

The Knights had just come off a come-from-behind display of will and composure — something hard to find against teams in a venue like the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational.

Topping Richland (Texas) 53-50 was one thing, but to repeat the risk of a slow start against another team proved costly in the end.

Centennial outscored Knightdale by eight points in the first half and the Knights, despite turning it up again for the final two quarters, were only able to outscore the visitors by five in the second half.

Coming so close, but not quite there, most of Knightdale’s leading scorers did what they do best. Dijon Manns didn’t have his best showing with five points, but in his absence on the scoreboard, guard Josh Gorham stepped up to cross the double-digit plane with 11. Also stretching out a bit from game one, Stan Okoye led the team with 23 points and Aaron Smith posted nine of his own.

The team played Panther Creek in the Summit Hospitality third place game Tuesday, Dec. 30, and seemed to drag some of Monday's gloom along.

Panther Creek outscored the Knights by six and eight points in the second and final quarters, respectively, on the way to a 60-46 win and third place finish.

Knightdale coach Battle Watkins said the team simply wasn't firing on all cylinders and seemed "flat" compared to games one and two, which he noted were much more closely played. The team turned the ball over 18 times as Panther Creek cruised on to victory.

Smith led the Knights in the final game of the tournament with 12 points, followed by Gorham with 11, Okoye with six, Eric Green with four, Manns, Immanuel Brooks and Tyler Nicholson with three each, and Billy Simms and Anthony Pope with two points each.

Knightdale — 10 12 12 12 — 46

Panther Creek — 10 18 12 20 — 60