Manchester sophomore Luke Applegate powers his way to the hoop to score two of his team-high 15 points in the Greyhounds’ Division IV district semi-final loss to Fairfield on Saturday at The Convo. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

Manchester sophomore Luke Applegate powers his way to the hoop to score two of his team-high 15 points in the Greyhounds’ Division IV district semi-final loss to Fairfield on Saturday at The Convo. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>Manchester’s Connor Darnell looks for a path to the baseline around Fairfield’s Trey House in action from the Hounds’ March 2 loss to Fairfield in the Division IV district tournament. Darnell scored 10 points in his final game in the blue and gold. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

Manchester’s Connor Darnell looks for a path to the baseline around Fairfield’s Trey House in action from the Hounds’ March 2 loss to Fairfield in the Division IV district tournament. Darnell scored 10 points in his final game in the blue and gold. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

For the first time in 12 seasons, the court at the Ohio University Convocation Center welcomed the Manchester Greyhounds to the Division IV district semi-finals. Only, “The Convo” wasn’t very welcoming. On Saturday, March 3, the Greyhounds and their fans made the trek to Athens with a familiar foe on the other side, fellow member of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, the Fairfield Lions. the two teams had met twice in the regular season, Fairfield winning both, one a close on and one not so close. Unfortunately for the Greyhounds, Saturday’s game resembled the latter.

Saturday night at the Convo turned out to be all Lions as they controlled the majority of the action, leading from the opening tip to the final horn, and ending the Manchester season with a 62-33 triumph.

The game could not have started worse for the Manchester blue and gold, perhaps nerves with the first time on the big stage as they missed their first 12 shot attempts, but whatever it was the Lions took full advantage. Fairfield roared out to a commanding 18-1 lead over the Greyhounds, who just couldn’t find any rhythm on either end of the floor. The Lions did most of their damage from long distance, getting draining four three-pointers in the opening period, two from Cade Miller and two from Logan McIntosh. The Hounds got a Connor Darnell free throw at the 5:34 mark and did not score again until Parker Hayslip hit a jumper at the buzzer, but Manchester still stared at a 15-point deficit after one quarter.

We were focused but I think we were really nervous,” said Manchester head coach Austin Kingsolver after the game. “They (Fairfield) got open looks and then late they got a lot of late run out layups. We just didn’t come out in the third quarter with much energy.”

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