It was an even down the middle weekend for Coach Kyle Pertuset and his Manchester Greyhounds as they won their second game of the season on Friday, Dec. 11 and then suffered their third loss on the next night. On Friday, the Hounds picked up their second consecutive win in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference by knocking off the visiting Whiteoak Wildcats 56-43, then back on their home floor on Saturday, the Greyhounds dropped a 57-47 decision to the Portsmouth Clay Panthers.
In the Friday night victory, the Hounds allowed Whiteoak to stay close for three quarters before pulling away in the fourth for the double digit win. Manchester led 12-11 after the first period and 28-25 at the half. In the second quarter, the Hounds maintained the lead thanks to the long ball, getting three-point goals from Colton Thornburg, Bryan Young, and Kaulen Cox.
Manchester outscored the Cats 14-13 in the third quarter, setting up what looked to be an exciting, tight final eight minutes, but the Hounds had other ideas as they clamped down on defense and held Whiteoak to just 12% shooting and 5 points. Meanwhile, the home team posted 14 and ended the evening with a 56-43 triumph.
“We have the potential to be pretty skilled,” said Coach Pertuset in a post game radio interview. “I think just sometimes we forget about the little things like boxing out and being strong with the ball. We just have to do the fundamentals of basketball for a full 32 minutes.”
“Whiteoak is a very scrappy team and I look for them to win their fair share this season. We finally decided to grab a couple of rebounds there in that fourth quarter and we switched up our defense a little to up the pressure and stop their guards from penetrating. If we just stay hungry and get better every day in practice, we will be tough.”
In the win, the Hounds were led by 17 points from Colton Thornburg, including four three-point goals. Also hitting double figures was Cole Pribble with 13, with Bryan Young adding 7 and Sean Frost 6.
WHS 11 14 13 5 —43
MHS 12 16 14 14 —56
WHS (43): Wissel 1 0-0 2, Marler 2 2-2 6, Burns 5 0-0 11, McClure 2 1-2 5, Carraher 4 0-1 10, Ashbaugh 2 4-4 8, Yeager 0 1-2 1, Team 16 8-11 43.
MHS (56): Combs 1 1-2 4, Aldridge 1 0-0 2, Frost 1 4-4 6, DeAtley 1 0-0 2, Thornburg 6 1-1 17, Young 3 0-0 7, Cox 2 0-0 5, Pribble 6 1-1 13, Team 21 7-8 56.
Three-Point Goals:
WHS- Burns 1, Carraher 2
MHS- Combs 1, Thornburg 4, Young 1, Cox 1
Saturday night was not so productive for the Gtreyhounds as they lost a non-conference home game to Portsmouth Clay 57-47. In the defeat, Manchester placed three players in double figures, Bryan Young with 14, Sean Frost with 12, and Colton Thornburg with 10.
The Saturday night loss dropped the Hounds to 2-3 overall with another non-conference contest set for Tuesday, Dec. 15 at home with the Western Indians. Manchester jumps back into SHAC play on Friday, Dec. 18, making the long trek to Leesburg to face the Fairfield Lions.
