Leading the Manchester cavalry up the court is senior Drew Kennedy (22), who tallied 10 points as the Greyhounds rallied late to secure a 47-41 win over Western Latham at the January 13 Coach Young Classic. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Manchester gets 47-41 win in Young Classic
Leading the way for Manchester in their Saturday afternoon win over Western was sophomore Parker Hayslip with 13 points. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It has been an up and down season for Coach Austin Kingsolver and his Manchester Greyhounds and their Saturday afternoon contest with the Western Latham Indians was a microcosm of that season. The Hounds took a double digit halftime lead, saw that lead vanish in the second half, then regrouped with a 7-0 run to end the game, all culminating in a 47-41 Manchester victory.
“I was a little nervous there with about three or four minutes left whether we would buckle down and finish it out or whether we would fold,” Coach Kingsolver explained in his postgame radio interview. “Our kids responded, buckled down and got the win”
The opening eight minutes of Saturday’s Greyhounds-Indians contest was tight early, tied three times, before the Greyhounds went on a 7-0 run to break a 6-6 deadlock. Part of that run was a corner three from Braylan Roberts and a Drew Kennedy basket with 12 seconds left in the period sent the Hounds to quarter number two with a 15-10 advantage.
That advantage grew to double digits within the first three minutes of the second stanza as the Hounds’ defense held the Indians scoreless and got a pair of Drew Kennedy free throws, a nice baseline drive and score from Connor Darnell and two more from the stripe from Parker Hayslip for a 7-0 run and a 22-10 lead. A later stickback by Leland Horner stretch the Manchester margin to 11 and when Darnell grabbed an offensive board and swished a short jumper in the lane, the Hounds took a 27-17 lead to the halftime locker room.
In recent seasons, the Greyhounds have had a bad habit of wasting away first half leads and Saturday turned out to be much of the same , but not until after they had opened the third quarter four straight to open up a seemingly comfortable 14-point advantage. After struggling mightily from the field this far into the game, the Indians finally began to find the range and found it from long range, hitting four three-pointers over a four-minute span, part of a rally that tied the game at 36 with less than a minute to go in the third. The Hounds jumped back in front on a Horner layup and took that slim two-point lead into the final period.
That final period didn’t begin well for the Greyhounds as the Indians got a free throw and then a three-pointer from Cutter Clay to take the lead for the first time since the game’s first minute, now leading 40-38 in what turned out to be a rather low-scoring eight minutes. With 3:45 to play the Hounds got their first points of the fourth quarter, a basket by Elijah Crabtree that temporarily tied the score at 40. A free toss by Drew Haggy gave the lead back to the Indians with 3:32 to play, but that was the final time that Western moved their side of the scoreboard.
With 2:40 to go, Crabtree drilled a crucial three-pointer from deep in the corner that gave the lead back to the Hounds and turned out to be a game-winner. It stayed a two-point game until the 55 second mark when Crabtree scored again. A Western turnover resulted in a Hayslip layup and the final points of a six-point Manchester win, one that improved their overall season record to 8-7.
Parker Hayslip led a balanced Greyhound scoring attack with 13 points, joined in double figures by Drew Kennedy with 10. Elijah Crabtree added 7, five of those coming in the critical Manchester run to end the game. Connor Darnell also scored 7 with Braylan Roberts adding 6, Western was topped by Drew Haggy’s 17 points.
“I though Drew had a great game today on both ends,” said Coach Kingsolver. “He always draws a tough defensive assignment and battled two of their top scorers today. “We got some big plays late in the game from Leland (Horner) and Elijah (Crabtree) that really helped us out. Braylan (Roberts) plays as hard as any kid I’ve ever coached”
“We have to play defense the way we played it in three quarters tonight. We’ve been challenging our kids to just get out there and guard and I think we did a much better job of that today.”
The Greyhounds were back in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, January 16 when they hosted Lynchburg and will face a road conference trip to Fayetteville on Friday, January 19. A busy week of SHAC action concludes on Saturday night when the Hounds will host Peebles.
Western Latham
10 7 19 5 —41
Manchester
15 12 11 9 —47
W. Latham (41): Kerns 0 1-2 1, Haggy 6 2-7 17, Janes 3 5-6 12, Clay 1 0-0 3, Davis 3 2-2 8, Team 13 10-17 41.
Manchester (47): Hayslip 3 7-9 13, Roberts 2 0-0 6, Darnell 3 1-2 7, Kennedy 3 4-8 10, Horner 2 0-0 4, Crabtree 3 0-0 7, Team 16 12-19 47.
Three-Point Goals:
W. Latham (5)- Haggy 3, Janes 1, Clay 1
Manchester (3)- Roberts 2, Crabtree 2
