By Mark Carpenter-
After dropping their season opener on Nov. 30 at West Union, Coach Greg Scott and his Manchester Greyhounds jumped right back into the fray the next night, moving to their home floor for an out-of-conference match up with the Felicity Cardinals. In a low-scoring, tight contest from start to finish, the Greyhounds claimed their first win of the 2018-19 season, slipping past the visiting Cardinals by a final score of 37-35.
Six Greyhounds dented the scoring column in the win, paced by 11 points from Isaiah Redmon, 9 from Kyle Reaves, and 8 from Dylan Colvin. The Cardinals had seven players in the scoring column, led by 8 points from big man Joey Glassmeyer and 7 from Wyatt Crozier, as the Cards shot a measly 12 for 49 from the field.
Early in the first quarter, the Cards jumped to a 7-2 lead but an old-fashioned three-point play by Carl Ricketts helped the home team pull within one and after a pair of buckets by the visitors, a putback by Dylan Colvin kept the Hounds within 11-8 at the quarter’s end.
The second period turned out to be the biggest offensive output for both teams as they combined for 25 points. Baskets by Colvin and freshman Ryland Wikoff gave the Hounds their first lead of the game and a later five-point spurt put the home team on top 17-13. Back-to-back buckets by Reaves extended the Manchester advantage to seven points, before a 7-0 run by Felicity tied the score late in the first half. Redmon hit two free throws late and it was the Hounds going to the halftime break holding a slim 23-21 lead.
A basket by Felicity’s Crozier opened the third quarter, but the Hounds jumped back in front when Colvin hit a nice turnaround in the lane followed by a Redmon score that made it 27-23. The home team maintained their slight advantage throughout a low-scoring third stanza and a run out by Redmon and a Reaves free throw left Manchester with a 32-29 advantage with eight minutes to play.
Whether it was defensive excellence or offensive ineptitude, the fourth quarter saw very few points added to the scoreboard for either side, a combined 11. A Redmon three-pointer with 5:38 to play gave Manchester a 35-31 lead, followed by a Jacob Calvert free throw that stretched the lead to five at the 4:16 mark. The Cards rallied with baskets by Crozier and Colton Stamper to draw within one with 45 seconds to go. Wikoff was fouled with 30 seconds left and sank one of two from the line to make it a two-point lead for the home side, and the Cards had the ball last and a chance to tie or win but a last-second shot by senior Austin Rutherford was off the mark and the Greyhounds could celebrate a first weekend win, by the final count of 37-35.
The Greyhounds were back in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action on Friday, Dec. 7, making the long, long trek to Fairfield to battle the Lions. The Hounds hit the road again on Saturday night, this time for a non-conference match up at Portsmouth Clay.
Last Saturday’s action was a triple header, with Felicity taking the freshman game 39-31, and Coach Shane Fultz’s Greyhound JV squad going 2-0 with a 42-30 victory.
Felicity
11 10 8 6 —35
Manchester
8 15 9 5 —37
Felicity (35): C. Crozier 1 4-4 6, Hall 2 0-2 4, Stamper 1 3-4 5, Reeves 0 1-2 1, W. Crozier 2 3-5 7, Glassmeyer 4 0-0 8, Taulbee 2 0-0 4, Team 12 11-17 35.
Manchester (37): Wikoff 1 1-2 3, Colvin 3 2-4 8, Redmon 4 2-2 11, Reaves 3 3-6 9, Ricketts 1 3-5 5, Calvert 0 1-2 1, Team 12 12-21 37.
Three-Point Goals:
Manchester (1)- Redmon 1
