Though falling backwards to the floor, Manchester’s Isaiah Scott managed to get this shot to fall in the second quarter of Wednesday’s eighth grade boys game at Whiteoak. Scott led the Hounds with 20 points in their 55-41 victory.

Scott’s 20, Poole’s 17 leads Manchester to SHAC victory – 

By Mark Carpenter – 

Looking for their third consecutive win to open the 2017-18 season, Coach Greg Scott and his eighth grade Manchester Greyhounds traveled to Mowrystown on Wednesday, Dec. 6 to face off with the Whiteoak Wildcats in their second Southern Hills Athletic Conference outing of the year. After knocking off North Adams on Saturday, the eighth grade Hounds, who certainly have the ability to put up points, stayed perfect in SHAC play by downing the host Wildcats by a final count of 55-41.
In keeping their record perfect at 3-0, the Hounds got big offensive games from Isaiah Scott and Jackson Poole, who scored 20 and 17 points respectively, and a defensive effort that allowed them to break open a close game and pick up the double digit victory.
The game was played dead even through the first six-minute period after the Hounds raced to a 6-2 lead behind Scott and Poole. After the Cats rallied to tie the game, baskets again by Scott and Poole gave Manchester the 10-6 advantage, but the home team finished the quarter on a 6-2 run and the two teams were deadlocked at 12 apiece.
The Greyhounds took the lead for good early in the second period. Trailing 14-12, Manchester scored the game’s next eight, capped by a Luke Hayslip three-pointer and a 20-14 advantage. Whiteoak answered with a three of their own, but an old-fashioned three-point play by Scott on an acrobatic, falling down shot, a basket by Ryland Wikoff, and a Brayden Young free throw sent the visitors to the halftime break holding a 26-19 lead.
That lead increased to double digits on the first Manchester possession of the second half when Daulton McDonald drilled a three-pointer to make it 29-19. After a Whiteoak basket, the Hounds reeled off 11 straight to firmly grab control of the game. Two baskets by Poole, one by McDonald, and another “basket and one” by Scott made it 40-21.
The Wildcats managed to score 8 of the game’s next 12 points, but a basket with five seconds left in the third quarter by Kaleb Wortman kept the Manchester lead comfortable at 46-29 heading into the final six minutes.
In that final six minutes, the Hounds had no trouble hanging on to their big lead and Coach Scott was able to substitute liberally. Another trey by McDonald with 3:25 to play made it 53-34 and fittingly, the final Manchester points of the game came on a basket by Scott with 2:33 to go as the Hounds made it three in a row to start the season, downing the Wildcats 55-41.

Manchester’s Ryland Wikoff looks for an open teammate in first half action from the Dec. 6 game in Whiteoak. Wikoff and the eighth grade Greyhounds picked up a conference victory on the road, downing the host Wildcats 55-41.

Scott and Poole had the aforementioned big offensive nights, combining for 37 points, while Daulton McDonald adding 8 on the strength of a pair of three-point goals.
The Greyhounds had little time to rest on their laurels as they were back in action on Thursday night and back on the road, traveling to Ripley for another SHAC battle. They will be back on their home court on the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 9 and again in conference play, hosting the Lynchburg Clay Mustangs.
Manchester
12 14 20 9 – 55
Whiteoak
12 7 10 12 –41

Manchester (55): Scott 20, Poole 17, McDonald 8, Hayslip 3, Wortman 2, Wikoff 2, Young 3
Three-Point Goals (3): McDonald 2, Hayslip 1