Though he was surrounded by Ripley defenders here, Manchester’s Leland Horner (23) escaped many times on Friday night, scoring 17 points in the second quarter of the Greyhounds SHAC win at Ripley. (Photo by Crystal Roberts)

Though he was surrounded by Ripley defenders here, Manchester’s Leland Horner (23) escaped many times on Friday night, scoring 17 points in the second quarter of the Greyhounds SHAC win at Ripley. (Photo by Crystal Roberts)

<p>Manchester’s Parker Hayslip, right, goes airborne to defend Ripley’s Jayden Bartley in the Hounds’ 67-43 win on December 15. a shot by Ripley’s (Photo by Crystal Roberts)</p>

Manchester’s Parker Hayslip, right, goes airborne to defend Ripley’s Jayden Bartley in the Hounds’ 67-43 win on December 15. a shot by Ripley’s (Photo by Crystal Roberts)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

The former “Rumble on the River” rivalry was renewed on Friday, December 15 at Ripley High School as the Blue Jays played host to their neighbors to the east, the Manchester Greyhounds. The Jays have struggled early in the season, especially offensively, while the Hounds were looking for their fourth win to go over the .500 mark.

The story on Friday night turned out to be the Manchester offense, led by an explosive second quarter from junior Leland Horner. The unstoppable Horner caught fire and scored 17 points in the second frame, at one point scoring 14 in a row for the Hounds, capping it off with a turnaround three-pointer at the buzzer that sent the visitors to halftime with a big 39-17 advantage.

Though the contest was close throughout the first quarter, the Hounds put together runs of 8-0 and 7-0, accounting for all of their points and a 15-10 lead after one. Horner was the story of the second frame with his offensive heroics, part of a 13-2 Manchester spurt, A Connor Darnell three-ball preceded the Horner buzzer-beater, giving the Hounds the huge halftime margin.

The second half began with a 12-2 Manchester run as they put the game on ice, leading 59-31 after three and then taking the win by the final count of 67-43.

Horner led the winners with 19 points, with Darnell right on his heels with 18. Parker Hayslip also hit double figures with 10, while Drew Kennedy added 9.

The Hounds came right back on Saturday night on their home floor to improve their record to 5-3 with a 52- 36 win over the visiting Green Bobcats. This week holds a Tuesday night trip to Felicity in non-conference play, then a trip to Whiteoak on Friday night, back in SHAC action.