Manhattan High boys’ basketball has made a habit of living on the edge this season.
Friday night at Washburn Rural was another one — and this time, Vince Doering made sure it ended on Manhattan’s terms.
Doering raced baseline to baseline and finished a contested layup at the buzzer in overtime, lifting the Indians to a 60-58 win over the Junior Blues in the regular-season finale.
“When he’s hitting perimeter shots, I don’t know how you guard him,” head coach Benji George said. “He gets downhill so well, and he’s such a good decision maker. But what a play at the end — we needed that so bad.”
The senior poured in a career-high 29 points, including eight in overtime, as Manhattan secured the No. 4 seed in Class 6A West and home-court advantage for a potential two sub-state games next week.
The Indians close the regular season 15-7 overall and 7-3 as outright Centennial League champions, adding a seventh one-possession win to a résumé that has been built on late-game composure.
How it happened
In a defensive battle from the start, Washburn Rural led 11-7 after the first quarter. Manhattan settled in during the second and edged ahead 21-20 at halftime behind a strong first half from Doering, who reached double figures before the break.
The Indians began to separate midway through the third quarter, building a 27-22 lead before Will Carpenter drilled a buzzer-beater to end the period and push Manhattan in front 34-29 entering the fourth.
Carpenter continued to attack early in the final frame, but Rural responded with a 7-0 run to take a 41-40 lead with 3:11 remaining. Doering answered with back-to-back baskets to put Manhattan back in front, but a Junior Blues 3-pointer tied the game at 44-44 with two minutes to go.
The teams were knotted again at 46-46 with 16 seconds left and Rural in possession. A turnover by the Junior Blues with five seconds remaining gave Manhattan a final shot in regulation, but Henry Witt’s 3-point attempt at the horn missed, sending the rivalry clash to overtime.
Doering opened overtime with a 3-pointer to give Manhattan the early edge and move into career-high territory. After Rural tied it, Tim Washington delivered an and-one finish to put the Indians up three with just over two minutes to play. Witt followed with a clean 3-pointer to stretch the lead to six.
Manhattan had chances to put the game away at the free-throw line but couldn’t fully capitalize, and Rural drilled a 3-pointer with five seconds left to tie the game at 58-58.
That’s when Doering took the inbound, went coast to coast and finished a contested layup as time expired, sealing the win and completing his 29-point night.
MHS will host Wichita Northwest on Wednesday night in Manhattan.
MANHATTAN 60,
WASHBURN RURAL 58
MHS (15-7, 7-3) — 7; 14; 13; 12; 14 — 60
W. Rural (11-11, 4-6) — 11; 9; 9; 17; 12 — 58
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
MHS — Carpenter 12, Doering 29, Sawyer Newton 5, Witt 3, Washington 9, Duff 2
W. Rural — Hoytal 23, O’Connor 9, Schmidt 7, Ballard 6, Chooncharoen 5, Nimz 4, Wright 2, Jones 2