Manhattan senior Deante Burton makes a pass against Great Bend's Ethan Henderson (left) and Matt Marshall. Burton recently signed a letter of intent to play football at Kansas State. (Mike Courson) |
The Manhattan basketball teams dominated Great Bend in their first meeting in mid-December. The Indian boys won by 37 points, and the Manhattan girls cruised to a 31-point win. Saturday, the squads traveled to Great Bend for a second meeting. The scores were not as impressive, but the Indians pulled off another sweep as the boys won 51-43, and the Lady Indians won 38-22.
Manhattan Boys 51, Great Bend 43
The Indians (7-6 overall) could never pull away, leading 36-23 after three quarters but needing free throws to take down the Panthers late. Manhattan was 13-of-18 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and 18-of-26 from the stripe in the game.
“For the first time all year, we won a ball game with our free throw shooting,” said Indians coach Tim Brooks. “That’s a sign, hopefully, of good things to come.”
Panther junior Matt Marshall scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to cut the gap to 36-27. With both teams in the double-bonus midway through the quarter, Manhattan converted 5-of-6 tries early on while Great Bend hit on just 2-of-7 free throw tries. The Panthers finished 9-of-19 from the stripe in the game.
“We had one night of really good free throws, and the last two nights haven’t been very good,” Panther coach Chris Battin said. “It’s kind of a mental thing and we’ve got to step up and knock them down in big situations.”
Even with the Indians’ success at the line, Great Bend continued to chip away at the lead. Marshall scored eight of his 11 points in the final eight minutes. Blaise Cain hit a three early in the quarter, and his basket with 1:37 to play cut the lead to 45-39. Manhattan pulled away for the win on 4-of-6 free throw shooting in the final 1:08. Senior Keaton Barrager went 5-of-6 from the line in the quarter, and senior Brandon Payne converted all four of his tries to finish with a game-high 14 points.
Barragar’s three-pointer gave Manhattan a 5-2 lead midway throught the first quarter, and the Indians never trailed again. Senior John Perbeck’s putback at the buzzer gave Manhattan a 15-8 lead after one quarter.
Chad Touslee scored four points to shrink the gap to 15-12 just 45 seconds into the second quarter, but Manhattan closed the first half on a 7-1 run to take a 22-13 lead into the break.
“We talked about coming out in a tough place and playing with a lot of energy and trying to get off to a good start,” said Brooks. “You can talk about it, but it’s another thing to do it. I thought the guys who were on the floor really played well, pushed the tempo, and got some fast-break points as well, which can really open up your half-court offense.”
Great Bend (5-11) missed on its first six three-point tries. Marshall broke that streak in the third quarter and kick-started a back-and-forth from outside the arc as both teams hit two threes. Payne and Jacob Holloway hit the Manhattan triples, and Cain added the other three for Great Bend, who trailed 36-23 after three quarters.
Payne was 4-of-7 from the floor to finish with his 14 points. Barrager added 11 points, and Holloway finished with nine points. Marshall scored all of his 11 points in the second half to lead Great Bend. Cain finished with 10 points, and Ethan Henderson scored seven points and grabbed a game-high seven boards.
Panther senior Jace Bowman tied a school-record with eight three-pointers in Friday’s triple-overtime loss at Liberal. He followed that 30-point perfomance with just two free throws against Manhattan.
“His legs might have been a little tired from the triple-overtime,” said Brooks. “I thought we guarded him pretty well. Guys were setting screens and really made it tough.”
Great Bend out-rebounded the Indians 23-21 on the night, and Battin said that was a key reason his squad avoided another blowout.
“I thought our kids played with a lot better effort this time,” said Battin. “We took care of the ball better and turned down our turnovers. I thought we did a much better job on our rebounding. Last time, we gave them 19 offensive rebounds, and tonight I think we limited that a lot.”
Manhattan girls 38, Great Bend 22
The squads have gone different directions after the first meeting in December. No. 5 Manhattan entered the game with an 11-1 record while the Lady Panthers picked up just their second win of the season Friday at Liberal. Despite their record, Great Bend showed how disruptive they can be on the defensive end, holding the Indians to just two field goals in a 17 minute stretch in the second and third quarters.
“They went to that zone in the second quarter and we didn’t move the ball like we really wanted to,” said Manhattan coach Scott Mall. “In those second and third quarters, there really wasn’t a whole lot of offense by either team. The game really slowed down, and that really changed the complexion of the game from what it was last time.”
Manhattan seniors Mari Jo Massanet and Onyeka Ehie took control early in the game. Massanet scored seven points early on, and Ehie scored the other four points as the Indians jumped to an 11-2 lead. Despite an Elizabeth Kutina basket in the final second of the quarter, Manhattan led 17-5 after eight minutes of play.
Both offenses fell apart in the second quarter, each scoring only two points on a combined 2-of-9 effort from the floor. Kelsey Crosby hit a long two for the Panthers early on, and Veronica Pitchford kissed a shot off the glass with 1:42 to play in the half.
The Panther defense continued to cause problems into the second half, holding Manhattan to just two more field goals in the third quarter.
“I guess that’s what gave us a chance,” Panther coach Jason Tatkenhorst said. “As far as the coaching staff was concerned, we never thought we were out of it. We thought at halftime if we could get a little spark we could really make a run at it. We started the fourth quarter and also thought if we had a spark we could make a run at it. The spark never happened.”
Tatkenhorst was frustrated by his team’s overall effort. After posting a 39-19 win on Friday, Great Bend lacked enthusiam on the court and shot a dismal 4-of-16 from the floor through three quarters.
“Normally, when you win by 20, that carries over and you’re excited to get back out there on the court again,” Tatkenhorst said. “There wasn’t enough passion from yesterday to today, which is hard to figure out. I’m disappointed in that respect.”
Massanet came back out of her shell in the fourth quarter, adding five points for a game-high 14 points. She also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
“She’s really done a great job and has had an excellent season so far,” Brook said. “She gives us what we need every time out offensively, on the boards, and passing the ball.”
Veronica Pitchford finished with five points for the Indians. Ehie, Darby Price, and Par McNair each added four points.
Kutina scored seven of her team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter for the Panthers. Crosby and Kaylie Doll each contribued four points, and Crosby had a team-high four rebounds.
