In a pair of hotly contested games coming out of the holiday break, Manhattan High and Shawnee Heights each picked up a win in their Centennial League basketball double dip. The Indian girls outscored the T-Birds 16-4 in the fourth quarter to sprint away for a 51-35 victory, remaining undefeated at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the league. Shawnee Heights held a brief lead at 3-2, but the Tribe quickly took advantage, but would not go ahead by more than eight points until the final quarter. The Tribe post tandem of sophomore Caroline Ballard and junior Darby Price each had 15 points, and senior guard Elayna Spilker added 12 points. Danielle Poblarp and Kelsey Morgan both had 10 points for Shawnee Heights (2-4, 1-2).
In a game of runs, the Shawnee Heights boys had the last laugh as they topped Manhattan High in overtime, 64-58. The T-Birds drained six three pointers in the first half on the way to a 30-24 halftime edge. After Heights made the first basket of the second half, the Tribe went on a 16-0 spurt keyed by four straight three point makes from senior guard Jacob Holloway. MHS would build that lead to 46-36 midway thru the fourth quarter, as sophomore Payton Stephens took over inside in his first game back after tearing the ACL in his left knee last summer. But, the T-Birds rallied right away on a nine-point splurge–all from guard Jovan Barksdale to take a 53-50 lead. The Indians forced overtime when they tied the game at 54, and Tony Barkdale missed a 17-footer in the final five seconds. Heights’ starting point guard Braeson Sester battled foul trouble throughout regulation, but scored six of the T-Birds’ 10 points in overtime, while Manhattan went cold. The Barksdale brothers combined for 41 points to lead Shawnee Heights (3-3, 2-1) as Jovan had 21 and Tony put up 20. Tevin Downing added 12 for the T-Birds. Stephens led the Manhattan (3-3, 0-2) effort with 18 points and Holloway had 17.
The Indians girls and boys will be at home for a pair of games in the coming week. First up is Hayden on Tuesday, followed by rival Junction City on Friday. Both doubleheaders tip off at 6:00pm, and pregame begins at 5:45 on SportsRadio 1350 KMAN with Rob Voelker and John Kurtz.
