Manchester Academy’s Lady Mavericks saw their season come to an end at the state tournament when they could not hold onto their lead in a 52-50 loss to Centreville Academy.
For Manchester Academy head coach Emily Poe, the loss was tough to swallow based on how they began.
“We really came out ready to play,” Poe said. “We did a very good job defensively early on. We ran up a 12-point lead. Things were going great early on.”
The Lady Mavs jumped out to a fast start with an aggressive defensive plan, racking up blocked shots and steals in bundles, many of which turned into layups.
With 0:02 remaining in the first quarter, Centreville hit a layup to cut Manchester’s lead to 14-7 heading into the second quarter.
Lanie Potter proved to be a real problem for Centreville, blocking shot after shot, and when she didn’t block a shot from someone driving down the lane, she altered it by her presence.
It was more of the same in the second quarter; strong defense by the Lady Mavs kept the Lady Tigers at arm’s length.
Manchester took a 23-15 lead into the half.
In the early portion of the third quarter, Manchester was able to extend their lead up to 12 points.
However, a slight shift occurred in the closing minutes of the third quarter.
Centreville heated up.
According to Poe, the change started small but quickly became detrimental to her team’s chances of victory.
“They started chipping away at the lead in the final minutes of the third quarter,” Poe said. “It was this gradual thing that snowballed out of control. I didn’t have but one timeout in the fourth quarter, so that also hurt us.”
Still, Manchester ended the quarter up 38-27.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers continued their relentless assault on the lead.
They started getting steals and finishing at the goal.
Poe tried to combat this by stalling at the top of the key when the Lady Tigers refused to apply defensive pressure.
“They essentially stopped playing defense against us, so we started taking a minute or two extra on each possession,” Poe said. “We were trying to use as much clock as possible.”
With 4:04 remaining, they had cut the lead to 43-38.
Back-to-back baskets by Centreville cut the lead to 43-42.
Soon after, senior Macy Huggins got two quick fouls, one defensive and one offensive on back-to-back possessions, giving her five for the game.
At the 1:28 mark, the Lady Tigers took the lead with a layup, and after another quick steal and another layup, they led 46-43.
Centreville held a 52-47 lead with very little time remaining, and they needed a play to be made.
Lanie Potter made that play once again, hitting a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points.
With very little time remaining, the Lady Tigers took the ball out, but thanks to extreme defensive pressure, their player stepped over the line, relinquishing the ball.
The whole season came down to one shot with 0:02 remaining in the state tournament.
The ball was fired up towards the goal, seemingly hanging in the air for an eternity, but it was slightly off the mark.
Manchester fell 52-50, ending the season and the dream for the Lady Mavs.
Macy Huggins led the Lady Mavs with 14 points in the loss.
Lanie Potter was right behind her with 11 points.
Gracie Jones rounded out the top three with nine points.
Elise Sowell had eight points, while Ashlee and Ivy Sowell each put up six points in the season-ending loss.
