Greyhounds get weekend sweep

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Thus far, the year 2024 has been kind to Coach Austin Kingsolver and his Manchester greyhounds. Since the ball dropped at Times Square, the Hounds have won six of nine outing, the latest two coming last weekend, a 58-40 win over Whiteoak on Friday night and then a 62-40 triumph over East Clinton on Saturday evening, both games played at the Hound Pound.

On Friday night, the Greyhounds hosted Whiteoak and placed three starters in double figures on their way to the 18-point win. Seniors Connor Darnell and Drew Kennedy led the way with 16 and 12 points respectively, while sophomore Parker Hayslip added 10. The Hounds did shoot 47% from the field for the game, but just 1 of 13 on three-point attempts, and improved their record in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference to 6-6, still tied with Fayetteville for second place in the small school division with one conference game remaining for each team.

Saturday night saw the Hounds hosting the East Clinton Astros in non-conference play on the inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame Night, with Denise Taylor, “Coach” Fred Edgington and the 1928 boys basketball team being the first three inductees. The Hounds were rude hosts as they led from wire-to-wire in handing the Astros the 22-point defeat.

Coach Kingsolver’s squad raced out of the gates on Saturday, taking advantage of a slew of East Clinton turnovers to score the game’s first nine points, a run that began with a Braylan Roberts putback, followed by a Darnell three-ball and back-to-back buckets by Leland Horner. Later in the period, the Astros began to regain their composure and a 7-0 run of their own cut the Manchester lead to 13-11, but a runner in the lane by Hayslip put the Hounds back up four as the first quarter closed.

The second frame began with the Hounds getting a spark off the bench from sophomore Elijah Crabtree who scored five points on the first two Greyhound possessions, one score from outside the arc and one from inside to extend the home team’s lead to nine. After an East Clinton score, the Houds put some distance between themselves and their visitors, going on an 11-0 run, fueled by five points from Hayslip and four from Roberts, to push the margin out to 31-13. The last basket of the half went to the Astros’ Toby Huff but his team still stared at a 16-point halftime deficit.

An early 9-2 East Clinton spurt in the third quarter pulled the Astros within 33-24, but the Hounds answered with six straight of their own to negate the East Clinton run. A Darnell bucket with 12 seconds left in the third left the Hounds on top 43-29 as the final quarter began.

In the past, the Greyhounds have had issues closing out leads late in the game but that was not to be the case on Saturday as they scored the first seven of the final period, starting with a putback by Braylon Rickett and including a Luke Applegate three-pointer that increased the lead to 50-29. Give credit to the Astros, they kept battling with a 7-0 run but time was not on their side. That became especially evident when this game of runs continued with Manchester going 9-0, all from Darnell and Horner, and Coach Kingsolver emptied the bench with just over two minutes to play and a 59-36 advantage.

East Clinton did manage a pair of baskets in that time but the game ended on a high note for the Hounds as sophomore Landon Doyle banked home a three-pointer at the final horn, the finishing touch on a big Manchester victory.

The winning Hounds placed a pair of players in double figures, paced by Connor Darnell’s 18 points with Parker Hayslip adding 13. Braylan Roberts and Leland Horner scored 8 each as the Hounds shot 43% from the field and 6 of 15 from three-point land.

East Clinton was led by Peyton Lilly’s 14 points with Dameon Williams adding 12.

The now 13-8 Greyhounds will play their final regular season game and final conference game on Friday, February 8 as they host the West Union Dragons on Senior Night. The Hounds currently sit at #7 in the RPI as they await this weekend’s tournament draw.

East Clinton

11 4 14 11 —40

Manchester

15 16 12 19 —62

E. Clinton (40): Williams 4 3-4 12, Huff 2 0-0 5, Arnold 1 0-0 2, Crowe 1 1-1 3, Lilly 6 1-1 14, Lake 0 2-2 2, Gulley 1 0-0 2, Team 15 7-8 40.

Manchester (62): Hayslip 5 2-2 13, Doyle 1 0-0 3, Roberts 4 0-0 8, Darnell 8 0-0 18. Rickett 1 0-0 2, Applegate 1 0-0 3, Kennedy 0 2-2 2, Horner 4 0-0 8, Crabtree 2 0-0 5, Team 26 4-4 62.

Three-Point Goals:

E. Clinton (3)- Williams 1. Lilly 1, Huff 1

Manchester (6): Hayslip 1, Doyle 1, Darnell 2, Crabtree 1, Applegate 1