In a battle between two of the Centennial League’s best, Manhattan High boys’ basketball found itself in another tight finish but ended on the wrong side of a 73-70 overtime loss to Emporia on Friday night.

The emotion’s is awful raw right now for me,” head coach Benji George said after the game. “(The result) — it’s a lot of things, maybe just regression of those moments going our way so often throughout the season that one doesn’t go our way tonight.”

Emporia took both matchups between the two last season — one by a single point and another by two — and the foes delivered another memorable performance. Once again, it was the Spartans playing spoiler.

Manhattan fell to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in league play, while Emporia improved to 14-3 and 3-1. Vince Doering led the Indians with 21 points, while Emporia’s Rylan Crowell scored a game-high 24, including 22 in the second half and overtime.

How it happened

The Spartans entered the contest ranked No. 5 in Class 5A and showed why early. Manhattan struggled to find rhythm offensively and trailed 17-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Adjustments followed, however. The Indians opened the second quarter on a 14-4 run, cutting the deficit to one within the first four minutes. Manhattan tied the game shortly after before Henry Witt sank back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Indians a six-point lead and all of the momentum.

Following one of its most difficult quarters of the season, Manhattan delivered one of its best, outscoring Emporia 28-11 in the second quarter to take a six-point lead into halftime. Witt tied his career high in the first half, scoring 12 points to fuel the turnaround.

The third quarter settled into a grind. Emporia trimmed the deficit to 45-43, aided by trips to the free-throw line — including six makes from Crowell in the period.

Each league heavyweight traded punches in the fourth quarter, but Manhattan appeared to seize control with under three minutes remaining. A Vince Doering and-one, followed by a Will Carpenter 3-pointer, pushed the Indians ahead by six entering crunch time.

Emporia responded, tying the game at 62-62 with 21 seconds remaining. Manhattan held for the final shot but could not convert, sending the contest to overtime.

The Spartans opened extra time with a five-point run, and Tim Washington fouled out during the stretch. Manhattan battled back to within one possession, but the ball did not bounce its way in the final moments.

Up next for Manhattan is a trip to Maize on Saturday.

EMPORIA 73,

MANHATTAN 70

EHS (14-3, 3-1) — 17; 11; 15; 19; 11 — 73

MHS (11-4, 3-1) — 6; 28; 11; 17; 8 — 70

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

Manhattan — Carpenter 13, Asher Newton 5, Doering 21, Washington 5, Hattrup 3, Sawyer Newton 7, Witt 14

Emporia — Crowell 24, Franklin 18, Trelc 12, Sidel 5,, Bloomquist 4, Harrington 4, Gray 2