Manhattan High girls’ basketball opened the playoffs with a successful bird hunt Tuesday night.
The No. 4-seeded Indians advanced to the sub-state final with a dominant 67-21 win over No. 13 seed Lawrence Free State.
“We came out and took care of business,” head coach Scott Mall said. “We played good defense. Right from the start, we knew we had to focus. And then offensively, I thought we did really well, we did a good job of doing different things and making the most of them.”
The regular season saw Manhattan secure a share of the Centennial League title. The start of the new season — the postseason — brought a wire-to-wire win with a running clock late.
“You want to get the win, that’s the important thing,” Mall said. “And it’s especially nice to get the win without it coming down to the wire or anything. That’s always nice, hopefully that makes us feel good, but also save some energy for Friday, because we’ll need it because Wichita East is very, very talented.”
Manhattan carded 11 scorers, led by Evie Banks, who scored 16 points. The sophomore also broke the program’s single-season record for 3-pointers, while senior Delaney Larson climbed into the top four in all-time assists and scored 10 points.
In addition to praising their achievements, Mall added that senior Kat Ball is in the top-3 of career 3-pointers, approaching the top spot in her final games as an Indian.
“It shows what kind of girls we have,” he said.
How it happened
It was all MHS from the jump. Three possessions and three turnovers opened the game for the Firebirds; meanwhile, Banks sank two 3-pointers to start the night.
That quick start paved the way for a dominant 18-2 first quarter, which saw MHS force 10 turnovers and hold Free State without a made field goal. Free State knocked down a couple of field goals early in the second to end that drought, but it didn’t slow Manhattan down.
The Indians’ offense continued its home cooking, entering halftime with a 34-7 lead. In the first half, Banks led the way with 10 points as seven different Indians scored in the period.
Junior forward Bailey Busch, who sank a rare triple in the first half, rejoined the offensive flurry with Manhattan’s first four points of the second half. Banks netted another pair of 3-pointers late in the third quarter, followed by another from Ansley Becket as Manhattan’s lead grew to 40 points.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Indians led 56-15, forcing a running clock as reserves closed out the playoff opener. Senior Tess Henry recorded a career-high five points, all in the final frame.
Up next, Manhattan — now 19-5 — will face No. 5 seed Wichita East (19-5) in the sub-state final.
MANHATTAN 67,
FREE STATE 21
MHS (19-5) — 18; 16; 22 11 — 67
Free State (7-17) — 2; 5; 8; 6 — 21
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Manhattan — Larson 10, Depusoir 2, Busch 7, Ball 5, Becket 8, Banks 16, Ingram 2, Alesana 2, Henry 5, Jorryn Hall 8, Salmans 2
Free State — Easter 3, Preston 4, McClorey 11, Vail 3