Manchester senior Mahayla Brown goes up and under for two of her six points in the Lady Hounds’ 53-32 loss to Southeastern on January 3. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Taking a cue from college basketball, it was a big noon tip off at Manchester High School last Saturday as the Lady Hounds played host to the Southeastern Lady Panthers in a varsity non-conference battle. The Lady Hounds, still without leading scorer Hayden Rideout and with only six active players, were looking to break a four-game losing streak and for at least a half it looked as if they might accomplish that goal. But the third quarter turned out to be disaster for the home team as the Lady Panthers began the second half with a 13-2 run and never looked back on their way to an eventual 53-32 victory.
“We ran out of gas in the second half and just couldn’t seem to go on a run to close the gap,” said Manchester head coach Jordan Johnson. “We just have to keep fighting.”
It was the Lady Panthers who got off to a hot start on Saturday, taking an early 7-0 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from Gracie Brown. Manchester was held scoreless for the game’s first five minutes before getting a coast-to-coast score from Faith Scott and two Maddie Easter free throws to close the gap to 7-4. Southeastern pushed the lead back to seven at 11-4 but a later three-pointer from Lyrric Hanson pulled the home team to within 11-7 as the first quarter ended.
The second quarter was sloppy on both ends, marred by missed shots and turnovers, and only 14 combined points from the two teams. With Southeastern leading 15-9, the Lady Hounds went on a 6-0 run, getting single free throws from Mahayla Brown and Scott, then a basket from Hanson and another coast to coast score from Scott to tie the game at 15 with 2:31 left in the first half. The Lady Panthers got a basket from Ally Fisher in the final seconds to take a slim two-point lead into the halftime break.
The aforementioned 13-2 run by Southeastern opened the third quarter and converted their slim halftime lead into a double digit advantage midway through the period. Brown hit another three for the visitors to fuel the run and give the Lady Panthers a 26-17 lead which they quickly increased to 34-19 before the Lady Hounds got their second bucket of the quarter, this one from Faith Scott, followed up by a Mahayla Brown three-pointer and the hoe team showed some signs of renewed energy, trailing 38-26 as the third quarter ended.
The hopes of Manchester comeback vanished rapidly in the opening minutes of the final stanza. After a basket by Easter opened the frame, the Lady Panthers reeled off 13 straight, including another Gracie Brown triplet, and the lead had grown to an insurmountable 51-28 with just three minutes to play. In those final three minutes, the Lady Hounds got buckets from Easter and Mahayla Brown but as the final horn sounded, it was Southeastern heading for the bus with a 21-point victory in their pocket.
“Our team is hurting with only six active players at the moment,” said Coach Johnson. “We’re hoping to get back to at least seven this week if Hayden (Rideout) is cleared from concussion protocol. She is our spark plug and helps elevate the play of everyone around her but we’ve had some girls really stepping up in her absence.”
In the win, Southeastern was led in scoring by Gracie Brown’s 19 points, followed closely by Reese Ruckel with 16.
With the loss, Manchester drooped to 2-10 on the season and were led in scoring by Maddie Easter’s 14 points.
The Lady Hounds face another tough task in their next outing as they host the formidable Fayetteville Lady Rockets on Thursday, January 8 in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference battle at the Hound Pound.
Box Score
Southeastern
11 6 21 15 —53
Manchester
7 8 11 6 —32
Southeastern (53): Fisher 3 1-2 7, Brown 7 1-2 19, Turner 1 1-2 3, Skaggs 2 0-0 4, Williams 1 0-0 2, Millet 0 2-2 2, R. Ruckel 7 2-4 16, Team 21 7-12 53.
Manchester (32): Easter 4 6-12 14, Hanson 2 0-0 5, F. Scott 3 1-2 7, Brown 2 1-2 6, Team 11 8-16 32.
Three-Point Goals:
Southeastern (4)- Brown 4
Manchester (2)- Hanson 1. Brown 1
