Manhattan High\u2019s postseason outlook wasn\u2019t just decided by baskets Friday night. It was decided by a couple clock ticks, an open bank and a coin flip.<\/p>\n
Before senior Vince Doering raced baseline to baseline and laid in a buzzer-beater in overtime to lift the Manhattan boys past Washburn Rural, the girls had already done their part.<\/p>\n
A 61-46 win secured the girls a share of the Centennial League title \u2014 and, thanks to one late 3-pointer, a chance at something more.<\/p>\n
Then came the phone call.<\/p>\n
With the Manhattan girls and Wichita East tied at 18-5 and even in point differential, the No. 4 seed in Class 6A West \u2014 and potential home-court advantage through sub-state \u2014 came down to a best-of-three coin flip conducted over the phone between KSHSAA and Wichita East representation.<\/p>\n
MHS athletics director Mike Marsh called heads.<\/p>\n
Twice. Two-for-two.<\/p>\n
Both the Manhattan girls and boys earned the No. 4 seed \u2014 and the right to host up to two sub-state games.<\/p>\n
For the Manhattan girls, the win over Washburn Rural marked the program\u2019s first league championship since the 2017-18 season, while tallying an overall record of 18-5 and 8-2 in league play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good,\u201d senior Delaney Larson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working toward this since my freshman year, when I got pulled up from JV to varsity. Kat and I have been playing together for so long, and this has been something we\u2019ve been working toward since then. So it feels really good to finally get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larson and fellow senior Kat Ball have been cornerstones of the program for years. The duo was recently recognized with McDonald\u2019s All-American West nominations.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to go out and win the Centennial League title \u2014 especially since we haven\u2019t done it in a while \u2014 means a lot,\u201d Ball said. \u201cNot just for myself, but for the girls next to me, and especially for Coach Mall. He does so much hard work that nobody sees, so we really want to go out there and play for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head coach Scott Mall knew the math. If Manhattan could win by 15, it would tie Wichita East in point differential and force the coin flip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a timeout late, because if we could get to 15, it\u2019s worth it,\u201d Mall said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we pressed and wanted to shoot a three, just to get that chance. I talked to their coach \u2014 we weren\u2019t running up the score. That wasn\u2019t the goal. If we could win by 15, that gives us a chance to host two games.\u201d<\/p>\n
With four seconds remaining, Larson got that chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach told us if we could get a steal, try to hit a three,\u201d she said. \u201cKat got that steal, and I was like, \u2018All right, I guess I\u2019ll shoot it.\u2019 I honestly didn\u2019t think it was going in \u2014 and then it banked in. I was really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The banked 3-pointer pushed the margin to 15, and ultimately helped secure the top-four seed.<\/p>\n
Ball sees the moment as part of a larger theme.<\/p>\n
\u201c100% a special group,\u201d Ball said. \u201cI think our connection on and off the court is something no team has. I take pride in how well we work together. Even as the season goes on, we can always get better \u2014 even in these last practices before sub-state, we\u2019re still working and improving. Growing up around these girls has been amazing. I just love these girls so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s pressure this time of year, but Larson keeps it in perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe a little bit,\u201d she said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, it\u2019s just basketball. I play it because I love it. My worth isn\u2019t defined by how I play. My worth is found in Jesus. So knowing that makes it a lot less stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Manhattan girls will begin their playoff push by hosting Free State on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
While the girls secured a share of the league title Friday, the boys had already claimed it outright entering the night. With that, they were strictly battling for the No. 4 seed.<\/p>\n
Doering\u2019s coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer in overtime lifted MHS to a 60-58 win over the Junior Blues, capping off a regular season as the outright Centennial League champions \u2014 the program\u2019s first in nine years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe competitor in me says 15 wins sounds a lot better than 14, and seven league wins sounds a lot better than six,\u201d head coach Benji George said. \u201cI tell the guys, \u2018Be inspired to do things that either haven\u2019t been done or haven\u2019t been done in a long time.\u2019 We haven\u2019t gone into sub-state knowing we had the chance to host two games in 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it feels good to know that after a season with a lot of road games, we\u2019re going to be at home. Now we\u2019ve got to get excited and get ready to take care of business on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boys finished 15-7 overall and 7-3 in league play, earning the No. 4 seed and hosting rights after a season defined by composure in tight moments.<\/p>\n
The Indians\u2019 experience will be put to the test, starting Wednesday against Wichita Northwest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manhattan High\u2019s postseason outlook wasn\u2019t just decided by baskets Friday night. It was decided by a couple clock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-148206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}