The Manhattan High basketball team was in action on Tuesday night inside the MHS gym for the final week of the regular season. The Hayden Wildcats were in town to start the final stretch of the regular season.
The MHS girls (18-1) were trying to sweep the season series with Hayden after winning earlier in the season at Hayden 51-49. The Indians opened up the first half in great fashion taking a 28-8 lead at the half. The Wildcats stormed out of the gate in the second half to make the ball game much more interesting. Hayden made 48% of their second half shots compared to just 16% in the first half. The Hayden pressure was tough for MHS to deal with throughout as the Indians turned the ball over 24 times in the game.
Ultimately, Hayden (15-4) dug themselves in too big of a hole in the first half and couldn’t climb over the hump with the Indians winning their 16th straight game with a 49-37 victory. It sets up a huge match up on Friday night in the regular season finale against Seaman, with both teams 12-0 in Centennial league play the winner will take the Centennial league title outright.
The MHS boys saw a furious fourth-quarter rally come up just short in a 63-61 loss to Hayden. The Indians jumped out to a six point lead early in the first quarter and led 17-14 after one, but the next two and a half quarters belonged to Hayden. The Wildcats built their lead to 13 points with just over six minutes left in the game, but Manhattan cut it down to two points in the final minute. The Indians then got a steal, but Payton Stephens was tied up and the possession arrow gave the ball back to Hayden. Marcus Meier then made two free throws to ice the game.
Gabe Awbrey had a career high 20 points, including 15 in the second half to lead MHS. Stephens and Pierson McAtee each had 15 as well.
The final game of the regular season will be on Friday night at the MHS gym with Seaman in town. The action will begin around 5:45 for pregame coverage on Newsradio 1350 KMAN.
