Manhattan High girls’ basketball returned home and returned to league play Friday night, taking care of business in a 71-31 win to protect its perfect start in the Centennial League.

With the win, Manhattan improved to 12-3 overall and 4-0 in league play, marking the program’s first undefeated start in league play through four games since the 2017-18 season.

“Every win is important right now, but we have a tough stretch coming up,” head coach Scott Mall said. “We still have to play Washburn Rural twice, at Hayden, against Topeka High and we have to go to Emporia. So there’s still a tough road ahead for postseason seeding. It’s important that we play well and get some wins.”

The Indians were led by sophomore Evie Banks, who scored 16 points off the bench, as five Manhattan players reached double figures. Senior Delaney Larson added 11, while Ansley Becket, Jelena Depusoir and Kat Ball each finished with 10.

“It’s always important,” Mall said of the team’s scoring depth. “If you rely on 1-2 people and they have an off night, which is going to happen, it’s nice that you have some other girls that can step up and score. I thought that was obvious tonight, we got some good scoring and some good looks from a lot of people.”

Manhattan honored Ball after the game, celebrating her becoming the Indians’ all-time leader in steals this season. 

How it happened

After a stretch of offensive fireworks on the road, Manhattan leaned back into its defensive identity in the early going.

The Indians held Emporia to just three field goals in the first quarter, though all three came from beyond the arc to keep the Spartans within reach. On the other end, Manhattan struggled to finish at the rim and carried a narrow 13-9 lead after one.

The offense began to find its rhythm in the second quarter, particularly from distance. Banks sparked the surge with three first-half 3-pointers, while Larson knocked down a pair late in the half to help widen the margin.

Behind the perimeter shooting and continued defensive pressure, Manhattan took a 35-22 lead into halftime, forcing 14 turnovers in the opening two quarters.

“It was nice win for us,” Mall said. I thought the girls really did a good job on both ends. Offensively, early, we got some good shots inside and didn’t hit him. After that, we did a good job of team offense, moved the ball, got good shots, hit some outside shots when we needed to.”

The momentum carried into the third, where Manhattan continued to stretch the lead on both ends of the floor. Ball capped the quarter by sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer, pushing the advantage to 58-30.

From there, the Indians closed the door. Manhattan doubled up the Spartans in the fourth quarter, forced a running clock, and allowed just a single free throw in the final frame before turning to its reserves to finish the night.

“Defensively, we did a pretty good job because they had three really good scores, and we made sure we guarded them the way we wanted to,” Mall said. “Our press didn’t get us a lot of turnovers and steals, so it’s nice that we could have balance between our offense and defense.”

It’s a quick turnaround for Manhattan, which heads to Maize on Saturday.

MANHATTAN 71,

EMPORIA 31

Manhattan (12-3, 4-0) — 13; 22; 23; 13 — 71

Emporia (6-11) — 9; 13; 8; 1 — 31

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

Manhattan — Larson 11, Becket 10, Depusoir 10, Jorryn Hall 4, Salmans 2, Ingram 3, Ball 10, Busch 3, Joss Hall 2, Banks 16

Emporia — Aguirre 1, Hines 6, Wiltz 7, DeWitt 8, Davis 5, Smith 4