Manchester Academy’s Lady Mavs took a road contest against St. Joe on Thursday night, while the Mavericks dropped one.
The Lady Mavericks of Manchester Academy took a huge step forward in terms of district tournament seeding by defeating St. Joe 31-26.
According to Manchester Academy head coach Emily Poe, the Lady Mavericks won the important game without playing their best game.
“The girls did not play great, but the win put us 5-2 in district play,” Poe said.
Lanie Potter led the Lady Mavs with 12 points in the winning effort.
Macy Huggins had six points in the win.
Elise Sowell and Gracie Jones each recorded four points in the victory.
Anna Kate Griffin had three points, while Hannah Trammell rounded things out with two points.
The Mavericks dropped to 4-3 in the conference after a difficult 44-39 loss that saw St. Joe claim the district title.
According to Manchester Academy head coach, the game was almost identical to their first encounter, third quarter lapse included.
“We lost by six earlier in the year at home and by five on the road on Thursday night,” Isles said. “Moral victories don’t help us this late in the season. We play well against them, but the third quarter has killed us in both games. We cut it to three points in the fourth, but they made their free throws down the stretch.”
Manchester got the upper hand against St. Joe in the first quarter by outscoring them 11-7, but the Fighting Irish fought back in the second quarter with a 14-9 effort, giving them a narrow 21-20 lead at the half.
The aforementioned third quarter lapse ensued after the half, and the Fighting Irish took advantage with a 15-6 quarter, extending their lead to 36-26 with a quarter remaining.
The Maverick gave St. Joe everything they had in the fourth quarter, even going as far as cutting St. Joe’s lead to three points.
But they weren’t able to catch them.
Manchester fell 44-39.
Parks Poe led the scoring effort with 16 points to go with four rebounds and one assist.
Upton Hitt was second in scoring with 10 points, and he also chipped in four rebounds and a steal.
Will Peeler had four points and two rebounds.
Hayes Bardwell led the team in rebounds with 11 to go with two points, an assist, a steal, and a blocked shot.
Chris Guthrie and Jon Riley Poe each had six rebounds in the loss. Guthrie also had three points and three steals, while Poe had two points, a steal, and a blocked shot.
The Mavericks had a district contest on Tuesday night against rival Tri-County Academy that was crucial for seeding purposes.
“We’re 4-3 in the district, so [Tuesday’s] game is interesting,” Isles said. “If we lose, it could set up a 3-way tie at 4-4 with us, Greenville Christian, and Tri-County. If we win, we would be 5-3 and would lock up the number two seed. It is an important game because we don’t want to be the number four seed and have to play St. Joe early.
The seniors at Manchester will suit up for their final home game on Friday night when they host Indianola Academy.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.
