By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural girls held off a late rally by Centennial League foe Manhattan to win at home 55-50 Friday night.
Washburn Rural jumped on the visitors out of the gate. While the Junior Blues knocked down their first four shots at one end, they held the visitors scoreless for more than five minutes at the other end, grabbing a 12-0 lead.
Freshman Maddie Vickery led the way with 20 points in Washburn Rural's 55-50 Centennial League win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Senior Zoe Canfield scored 16 points in Washburn Rural's 55-50 Centennial League win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
“We talked about coming out strong and aggressive and being in attack mode,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “I thought we really did that and did a good job of playing within our offensive structure. We attacked inside and they tried closing that up. We attacked from the outside and that worked and we were really in a good rhythm and a good flow.”
The Indians didn’t fold. They rallied with six straight points to close the first period. A similarly rough start to the second period put the Indians into a 22-7 hole, but they fought back. A 10-0 run brought the Indians to within a possession just before half.
In the third period, Washburn Rural dialed up several long 3-point attempts, connecting on four of them, to extend its lead to double digits once again.
“We have some people who can shoot the ball and when they’re consistent we can be deadly,” Bordewick said. “We want to try to get a paint touch and then kick it out, or start hitting from the outside and things open up on the inside.”
The Junior Blues held a 43-33 advantage to start the final period. But the Indians came roaring back one last time with a 9-0 run that started with 2:48 left. Manhattan closed to within two points with 20 seconds remaining.
After four free throws by Washburn Rural, Manhattan dropped a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left to make the score 53-50. But a final attempt at a steal left the Junior Blues with free throws to put the game out of reach.
“That’s my fault as a coach,” Bordewick said, “because we’ve got to go over more scenarios in practice to make sure we understand that if we go out after a time out and we’re shooting a free throw that we have people matched up. We left (Maxine Doering) open to hit a three when no one was even around here.
“We had fouls to give and we didn’t even have a chance to do that. That’s what we talked about in the timeout. It’s a learning experience.”
Washburn Rural was held to just 14 field goals to 20 for Manhattan. But the Junior Blues hit 18-22 free throws.
The Junior Blues were led by freshman Maddie Vickery’s 20 points. She converted 10-12 attempts from the line. Zoe Canfield added 16 points.
Washburn Rural improved to 13-5 overall, 7-2 in the Centennial League with a trip to Blue Valley and a home matchup with Emporia left on the schedule.
Doering led the Indians with 17 points. Delany Larson scored 16, and Kat Ball added 10. The loss dropped the Indians to 10-9 on the year, 4-5 in the Centennial League.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 55, MANHATTAN 50
Manhattan 6 18 9 17 -- 50
Washburn Rural 12 16 15 12 -- 55
Manhattan (10-9, 4-5) – Larson 6-10 1-2 16, Ball 5-13 0-0 10, Doering 6-10 2-2 17, Rullifson 0-3 0-0 0, Parcell 1-4 0-0 2, Dodds 0-1 1-2 1, Peabody 0-2 0-0 0, Busch 2-5 0-0 4, Jimenez 0-0 0-0 0. Total: 20-48 4-6 50.
Washburn Rural (13-5, 7-2) – Vickery 4-9 10-12 20, Hinck 2-5 2-2 7, Ochs 0-5 0-0 0, Canfield 4-10 4-4 16, Bunck 2-3 2-2 7, Lemke 2-3 0-2 5, Hirschi 0-1 0-0 0. Total: 14-36 18-22 55.
3-point goals – Manhattan 6 (Larson 3, Doering 3), Washburn Rural 9 (Canfield 4, Vickery 2, Hinck 1, Bunck 1, Lemke 1). Total fouls – Manhattan 19, Washburn Rural 10. Fouled out – Ball. Technical fouls – None.
