The struggles continued for the seventh and eighth grade boys basketball squads from Manchester last week, but Jan. 6 turned out to be a profitable night for their opponents from West Union as the Dragons pulled off a sweep, winning the seventh grade game by a score of 57-28 and then taking the eighth grade contest by a final count of 54-19.
In the seventh grade battle, the Dragons lead at every break, 8-5 after the first quarter, 23-13 at the intermission, 37-21 after three periods, and then exploded on offense for 20 points in the fourth quarter to post the 57-28 victory.
It was a balanced scoring attack for West Union in the win, with every player who saw action in the game getting in the score book, led by 12 points from Phillip Jarvis, 11 from Luke Fetters, and 10 from Austin Abbott. Braxton Blanton, Clayton Jones, and Trevor Short scoring 6 apiece.
Manchester was led by 10 points from Gunner Bohl, with Chase McDonald adding 8 and Jace Jackson 5.
In the eighth grade game, the Dragons broke away early, getting 7 points in the first quarter from their “beast” in the paint, Mizael Gapi on their way to a 16-2 lead. The offensive output for the home team was even better in the second stanza as they poured in 18 points, getting two baskets each from Steven Runyan, Levi Carter, and Aaron Whaley on their way to a 34-4 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the Manchester offense did get untracked a bit, mostly behind the efforts of Dylan Adams, who scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the final two quarters. Even with Adams finding the range, West Union still outscored the Hounds in both periods and coasted to the 54-19 win.
The victorious Dragons were led by Gapi’s 13 points, followed very closely by Runyan with 12. Whaley and Parker added 7 each, with Carter and Zane Kingsolver each tossing in 6.
The junior high Dragons were back in action on Monday, Jan. 11, traveling to face the unbeaten seventh and eighth grade squads in North Adams. Look for a report on those games in the upcoming weekend edition of The People’s Defender.
7TH GRADE BOX SCORE
MJH 5 8 8 7 —28
WUJH 8 15 14 20 —57
MJH (28): Smith 1 0-0 2, McDonald 4 0-2 8, Jackson 2 0-0 5, Lucas 0 1-4 1, Bohl 3 4-6 10, Walters 1 0-0 2, Team 11 5-12 28.
WUJH (57): Knox 1 0-0 2, Blanton 3 0-2 6, Jones 2 2-2 6, Carson 1 0-0 2, Jarvis 6 0-0 12, Fetters 4 2-2 11, Abbott 5 0-0 10, Short 3 0-1 6, Gibson 1 0-0 2, Team 26 4-7 57.
Three-Point Goals:
MJH- Jackson 1
WUJH- Feters 1
8TH GRADE BOX SCORE
MJH 2 2 7 8 —19
WUJH 16 18 10 10 —54
MJH (19): Crevier 1 0-0 2, Huron 1 0-0 3, Adams 6 0-0 14, Bowman 0 0-2 0, Team 8 0-2 19.
WUJH (54): Staten 0 1-2 1, Runyan 6 0-0 12, Kingsolver 3 0-0 6, Gapi 6 1-3 13, Carter 3 0-0 6, Whaley 3 0-0 7, Parker 3 0-0 7, Pollard 1 0-0 2, Team 25 2-5 54.
Three-Point Goals:
MJH- Adams 2, Huron 1
WUJH- Whaley 1, Parker 1
