Manchester freshman Faith Scott led the Lady Hounds with 10 points in their 54-33 loss at Ripley. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

Manchester freshman Faith Scott led the Lady Hounds with 10 points in their 54-33 loss at Ripley. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Mired in a four-game losing streak, the Manchester Lady Greyhounds took a trip down Route 52 and across county lines on January 23, traveling to face the Ripley Lady Jays in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference small school division match up. A very young Lady Hounds squad, with a roster that includes seven freshmen, has found wins hard to come by this season, with only three on the left side of the ledger coming into Thursday night’s contest.

Any hopes the visiting Lady Hounds had of getting that fourth win at Ripley were dashed rather quickly as the Lady Jays flew out of the gates and scored the first 15 points of the game, getting a trio of three-point baskets from the duo of Brooklyn Manning and Raquel Hackney, that latter of who continues to make a strong case for Player of the Year in the SHAC as she finished the night with a game-high 25.

The Lady Hounds didn’t get on the board until the 3:29 mark of the first period on a free throw from Faith Scott, that was part of a 5-2 Manchester run that included a pair of buckets from Abby Neria. Hackney answered that with five straight points and a steal and score by Grace Taylor in the final seconds gave Ripley a 24-5 advantage after one.

Facing a large deficit, the Lady Hounds showed some grit the rest of the way and played the Lady jays nearly even over the span of the final three quarters. Manchester opened the second stanza with a Raegan Wikoff three-point goal and then got a runner in the land from Scott and a Bella Hughes trey to pull within 28-13.

A Manning three-ball from deep in the corner was followed by a Scott basket in transition and another score in close from Neria and at the half, the Lady Hounds trailed 33-17.

The Lady Jays opened the second half with a quick 6-0 run, baskets by Manning, Hackney and Callie Fultz to push their lead back to 22 points. The Lady Hounds only managed five points total in the third quarter, getting baskets from Scott and Maddi Curtis but a three-point play from Hackney and a basket by freshman Aubree May kept the home team comfortably in front 48-22 as the final period commenced.

After falling behind 52-24 early in the fourth, the Lady Hounds showed some spark with a 9-2 run over the game’s final six minutes. The run began with a basket by Mahayla Brown followed by a Scott three-pointer and also included another score from Brown and a two-pointer from Hughes. Unfortunately for the Manchester squad, the hole they dug early was far too deep to climb out of and time ran out with the Lady Jays taking the conference win by that final count of 54-33.

As mentioned, Raquel Hackney led the winners and all scorers with her 25 points and the Lady Jays also got a double-double of 15 points and 17 rebounds from Brooklyn Manning. Point guard Grace Taylor dished out six assists as Ripley improved to 9-7 overall, 4-6 in conference play.

Manchester was led in scoring by 10 points from Faith Scott, with Mahayla Brown adding 7, Abby Neria 6 and Bella Hughes 5. The Lady Hounds fell to 3-15 overall and are still looking for their first conference win (0-10).

“It was our third game in four nights and I thought our girls played hard,” Ripley head coach Brian Littleton told C103 Radio after the win. “This time of year is about preparing for tournament and just taking one day at a time. Manchester is a young team and they are getting better. Coach Jordan Johnson is really a class act.”

The Lady Hounds were back in conference play on Monday night, traveling to Eastern Brown and then after a few days rest, will host Lucasville Valley at noon on Saturday, February 1.

Manchester

5 12 5 11 —33

Ripley

24 9 15 6 —54

Manchester (33): Brown 7, Scott 10, Neria 6, Wikoff 3, Hughes 5, Curtis 2

Ripley (54): Manning 15, Hackney 25, Fultz 5, Fisher 2, Taylor 3, May 2, Young 2

Three-Point Goals:

Manchester (3)- Wikoff 1, Scott 1, Hughes 1

Ripley (4)- Manning 3, Hackney 1