After the Kaneland boys basketball team fell to 0-3 with a loss to St. Francis on Saturday at Batavia’s Windmill City Classic, Knights coach Brian Johnson tried to sell the players on a fresh start this week leading to Kaneland’s conference opener.

The Knights weren’t ready to listen then, but a few more days to decompress should allow Kaneland’s wounded pride to heal as Friday’s Northern Illinois Big 12 East game with Morris approaches.

“We have a lot of competitors, like most teams do,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of guys who have had a lot of success in other sports, quite a bit of football players who did a really nice job the past year, so losing didn’t settle very well with them.