File photo courtesy of Bob Leslie Kyler Black, Kris Bunk and the Eisenhower Knights will take on Aliquippa in a PIAA Class 2A prequarterfinal tonight at Edinboro University.

The Eisenhower Knights boys basketball team has accomplished one of its goals this season in making the state playoffs.

Not content to just make the state playoffs, by virtue of their 46-39 win last Saturday against North Cambria, they are now one of only five boys teams from District 10 to have made this year’s prestigious “Sweet Sixteen.”

The Knights (21-5) made school history with Saturday’s win, the first in school history in the PIAA state tournament, but to continue playing in the postseason they have to get past WPIAL champion Aliquippa (22-4) in today’s 7 p.m. Class 2A prequarterfinal at Edinboro University.

Aliquippa has been known as a high school football powerhouse in recent years. Now it has become a championship-caliber basketball program in its own right, having finished as state runnerup a year ago, falling to Lancaster Mennonite in the championship game 60-44.

This year’s team is led by 6-foot-3 senior Cameron Lindsey, a Pitt football recruit, and sophomore QaLil Goode. The good news for the Knights is that Lindsey will miss tonight’s game due to receiving two technical fouls in the Quips’ victory against Otto Eldred on Saturday.

PIAA rules state that a player receiving two technical fouls, which brings an automatic ejection, must sit out the team’s next scheduled game.

The Quips will certainly miss Lindsey’s physicality, but Eisenhower has reason to feel confident going into tonight’s game.

“Aliquippa plays at a speed that is difficult to recreate,” Knights head coach Ryan Mangini said. “Our guys will have to be ready for their pressure. We must play aggressively.”

“I feel like it’s a great opportunity to play one of the best teams in the state and to show people what we can do,” Eisenhower’s Kyler Black said. “They are very talented, athletic and they shoot the ball very well, but I feel we are capable of doing those things at a high level as well. We have to make it a battle at both ends of the court.”

Eisenhower has proven all season that it’s capable of putting points on the board. The Knights have a balanced scoring approach to the game. They are led by freshman Austin Hanson, who is averaging over 15 points a game. Black and Hanson handle the basketball the majority of the time. Kris Bunk, a 6-foot-4 senior, and Gavin Lindemuth, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, play under the basket. Lindemuth has improved every game and is very capable of hitting the 3-point shot offensively for the Knights. The fifth starter is Casey Seymour, who is a threat driving to the hoop whenever he has the ball.

“We will go with a game plan designed to slow down their high-tempo offense,” Mangini said. “We absolutely have to take care of the basketball, they will turn mistakes into points. We have to limit those.”

“We are excited for the challenge they bring for us, but I feel that if we play our style of basketball and can take away their playmakers, we can make this a close game,” Bunk added.

Tip-off immediately follows the Warren girls game, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Both games are being played at McComb Fieldhouse on the campus of Edinboro University. Tickets must be purchased online. There will be no tickets for sale at the door. For tickets, visit https://piaa.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/3912?es=itaf635fa8q3jc7c0uk80t3kgj