MHS girls lose to BV-Stilwell 56-41

A minute later, the Tigers (6-3) got a pair of free throws from Clara Bax to go up 13-2, and Manhattan never drew within single digits again.

“We came out, I thought, so flat in the beginning,” said head coach Scott Mall. “We didn’t move a lot on offense. I thought we were hesitant to shoot the ball. We got some inside shots and couldn’t get them to go in. That really put us in a hole. And then they came out and made plays and hit baskets.”

By the end of the first quarter, the Indians had managed just five points and trailed by 10, having connected on 2-of-11 attempts. Despite needing more than three minutes to score in the second, they improved their shooting percentage in that period by making 4-of-9 shots. However, they struggled to take care of the ball and had 14 turnovers by halftime.

The Tigers led by as many as 22 points in the second quarter and went to the locker rooms at intermission on top 34-16. They built that lead both with outside shooting and by driving to the paint as Manhattan had trouble getting stops on defense.

Coming out of halftime, the Indians managed to rein in some of the turnovers and find more success on defense. Blue Valley ground its way to a 47-26 lead at the end of the third quarter, but in the fourth, Manhattan had its chances.

The Indians went on a 9-3 run in the first 2 ½ minutes of the final period, pulling within 15 at 50-35 with 5:31 to play. Forty seconds later, Jadyn Wooten — who had scored 24 points for the Tigers — fouled out of the game. If Manhattan was going to make a run, this was the time.

The defense was there, as the Indians held Blue Valley scoreless for more than 3 ½ minutes. However, they couldn’t find any answers of their own offensively, and as the clock passed under two minutes to play, the score remained 50-35.

“I was really proud in the second half,” Mall said. “We could have easily just said ‘this is it.’ But the girls really just got in and battled. If we could have hit a couple more shots in there, who knows what could have happened?”

Bax broke the Tigers’ scoreless spell by making two free throws with 1:52 left in the game. Avery Larson hit back-to-back 3-pointers within the last 95 seconds, but it was too little, too late for Manhattan.

Larson scored 15 points to lead the Indians, while freshman Kat Ball put up 11 off the bench. No other Indian scored more than five points.

Wooten’s 24 points paced Blue Valley, and Bax added another 17. The Tigers shot 50% (19-of-38) from the field and 40% (6-of-15) from 3-point distance in the game. They came up with 11 steals on defense.

Mall said his team’s 22 turnovers were disappointing, particularly since that was an aspect of the game where Manhattan had improved throughout the season.

“We would force a ball where it didn’t need to go, we had some passes that didn’t go to anybody, which really hurt us in the first half,” he said. “You get like five or six of those, boy, it takes away your scoring chances, especially when they were playing well.”

He added that he hoped the fact that the Indians played better late in the game helps them maintain some of the confidence they built up from Tuesday’s win over then-unbeaten Emporia, particularly as they move into next week.

Manhattan will return to the court on Thursday when it opens play at the McPherson Invitational against St. James Academy at 6:30 p.m. The Thunder (6-4) beat Staley (Missouri) 86-78 in overtime on Friday.