
The victorious Manchester Greyhounds hoist the River City Classic trophy after their 55-36 win at Ripley on January 24. (Photo courtesy of Shanna Crabtree)
River City Trophy goes back to Manchester
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After struggling with three consecutive losses, the Manchester Greyhounds bounced back in a big way last week with three victories, two of them out of conference and one a Southern Hills Athletic Conference contest. The two non-conference wins came over Felicity and Portsmouth West, sandwiched around a conference win at Ripley on Friday, January 24.
The Hounds downed Felicity 66-56 on January 21 and then made the trip to Ripley three nights later for the revival of the River City Classic rivalry with the Classic Trophy on the line. An 11-0 run that spanned from the first quarter into the second propelled the Greyhound forward as they took the trophy back to Manchester with a 55-36 victory.
It always takes a visiting team a few minutes to adjust to the different shooting background in the Ripley gymnasium and that was the case for the Hounds on Friday night. With the aid of a Carson Fulton three-pointer, the Blue Jays had a 8-6 lead with three minutes to go in the opening period, but that was the high mark for the home team as the Greyhounds began to find the mark. A three-ball from Parker Hayslip tied the score and a stickback by Elijah Crabtree put the visitors up 11-9 as the first quarter ended.
The run for the Greyhounds continued as the second stanza began with baskets by Braylan Roberts Crabtree and Braylon Rickett stretching the lead to 17-9. Ripley finally got back on the board with a Blake Fyffe basket but the Hounds responded with a Ronnie Elam three-pointer. The Greyhounds maintained their lead through the second quarter, getting another score from Rickett with a minute remaining. Ripley’s Austin Manning hit a shot in the final seconds of the half but the Jays still faced a 26-17 halftime deficit.
Manning opened the third quarter with a basket but the Hounds answered with a Leland Horner three-pointer, followed by the Jays getting a 6-0 run to pull within 29-25. Horner halted that run with another three-ball and the two sides swapped scores for the remainder of the third period, which ended with the Hounds on top 36-29.
Manchester opened the final quarter with a 7-3 run, fueled by an Elijah Crabtree trey, to take a 44-32 lead. After Ripley got scores from Jayden Bartley and Brayden Boone, the home team would score no more as the Hounds put the hammer down and scored the game’s final 11 points to erase any doubt about the night’s winner. Most of that damage was done from the charity stripe, four from Hayslip and two more from Elam. Toss in a Roberts three-pointer and it all added up to a 19-point win for the visiting Greyhounds.
In the win, Manchester had three players reach double figures in scoring, led by Leland Horner’s 12 points. Parker Hayslip and Braylan Roberts added 11 and 10 respectively. Ronnie Elam did a nice job off the bench, tossing in 7 points.
Ripley was led by 9 points from Jayden Bartley with Austin Manning and Blake Fyffe chipping in 8 apiece.
With the second win of the week under their belts, the Greyhounds returned home on Saturday night, hosting the Portsmouth West Senators for Senior Night. Being Senior Night the game couldn’t have had a better ending for the home team. With the score tied at 50 and only seconds left in the game, Manchester senior Braylan Roberts took an inbounds pass, dribbled to the free throw line, elevated and hit the game-winner in a 52-50 Greyhound triumph. That win, the third of the week, improved the Hounds back to .500 on the season at 8 -8.
Coach Austin Kingsolver’s squad will be back in action on Friday night, traveling to Whiteoak for a small school division conference battle. On Saturday, conference play comes to the Hound Pound as Manchester plays host to the Fairfield Lions.
Manchester
11 15 10 19 —55
Ripley
9 8 12 7 —36
Manchester (55): Hayslip 3 4-4 11, Roberts 3 3-4 10, Elam 2 2-2 7, Rickett 3 0-0 6, Horner 5 0-2 12, Crabtree 4 0-0 9, Team 20 9-12 55.
Ripley (36): Fulton 1 0-0 3, Bartley 4 0-0 9, bone 1 0-0 2, Fyffe 2 4-6 8, Lacy 1 2-2 4, Manning 3 2-2 8, Benjamin 1 0-1 2, Team 13 8-10 36.
Three-Point Goals:
Manchester (6)- Hayslip 1, Roberts 1, Elam 1, Horner 2, Crabtree 1
Ripley (2)- Fulton 1, Bartley 1