Fieldcrest guard Kash Klendworth misfired on his first shot in Monday’s game against Dwight in Minonk.

However, the senior guard then swished his next four attempts, all from 3-point range, with the final pair part of a dominant Knights run spanning the final three minutes of the first quarter and opening two minutes of the second.

Klendworth finished the night with a game-best 27 points, six assists and two steals to help the hosts earn a 75-55 victory over the Trojans to improve to 5-1 on the young season.

“I missed my first shot tonight but then made the second one and it got me going,” Klendworth said. “I feel like on the nights I shoot well I’m just playing basketball and not overthinking too much. After making that first one tonight it was kind of just catch and shoot.”

Fieldcrest senior guard Layten Gerdes netted 10 of his 21 points in the third quarter, Drew Overocker added 11 points and six rebounds, Kayden Eilts chipped in 10 points and five rebounds, and Braden Hahn recorded seven assists.

Overall, the Knights finished 31-of-58 (53%) shooting, 9-of-20 from beyond the arc, and held the advantage in rebounds (34-33) and turnovers (8-14).

“I feel like we played pretty well offensively and shot the ball really well,” Klendworth said. “We shared the ball, set good screens, and did a good job of driving and kicking to open shooters.”

Fieldcrest led 10-9 late in the opening quarter before consecutive layups by Eilts, Overocker and Layten Gerdes started a 19-2 game-changing run and led to a 19-11 lead. A pair of triples by Klendworth and another by Overocker — all off Braden Hahn assists — opened the second period and the Knights went on to hold a 37-23 halftime cushion.

“This is a very good offensive team I have this year,” Fieldcrest coach Jeremy Hahn said. “I really love my defense, but this bunch knows how push it and put it in the basket. Tonight, we had Kash get hot right from the start, then Layten joined in. We shared the ball well. It was a very solid night for us on the offensive end of the floor.

“Defensively we have to start finishing possessions, in we play pretty good defense, the shot goes up, and we just need to do a better job grabbing defensive rebounds,” he added. “We have the talent to be a really good defensive team, but we just haven’t put everything together as of yet.”

In the third, Klendworth and Layten Gerdes each popped in 10 points and the hosts headed to the fourth up 59-38.

Dwight — which shot 20-of-57 (35%) from the field and fell to 2-5 — was led by 11 points and six rebounds from Joey Starks. Evan Cox added nine points and four rebounds, while Joe Duffy and Jackson Launius each posted eight points.

“Fieldcrest shot the ball really well ... They were hitting from everywhere,” Dwight coach Jeremy Connor said. “For us, we had to do a better job of executing the things we do offensively. There were a couple of plays early on where we didn’t have people running the plays in the right spots. We just weren’t as efficient as we need to be on the offensive end tonight.

“Defensively, we are still trying to figure out who we are. Are we a zone team? Are we a man-to-man team? It’s still a work in progress,” he continued. “I feel like (with the late start due to the football team’s deep playoff run) we are a week behind, but hopefully the next few days of practice we can close that gap some more.”

Fieldcrest is back in action on Tuesday at Heyworth in a Heart of Illinois Conference opener.

Dwight hits the floor again on Friday at Midland in Tri-County Conference game.