Manchester Academy’s high school boys and girls’ basketball teams hosted the district 3 AAA basketball tournament February 9th-11th.
The boys played a first round game against a lower seeded Park Place Christian School for a chance play for a North State Playoff spot. The Lady Mavs earned a first round bye and had already punched their ticket to North State before even stepping on the floor.
The boys were stunned early in the first round game.
The Crusaders of Park Place came out hot taking an 18-5 lead and never really looked back. The team Manchester had beaten twice during the regular season had made an early statement and although cutting the lead down to 10 points in the second half, the Mavericks couldn’t trim the lead enough to make a comeback. Injuries and foul trouble is what hurt the already shorthanded Mavericks the most. Hayes Bardwell was limited to only one half of play due to a hamstring injury. Matt Liddon got in early foul trouble and the Mavericks had two key players on the bench in a hurry. Jay Warren eventually fouled out which left Christopher Guthrie and Freshman Upton Hitt to take over at the guard positions. The Mavericks didn’t play their best early along with misfortunes throughout the game and exited the tournament on a disappointing loss to Park Place Christian School 53-35. Hartfield Academy would take home the championship after defeating Central Hinds Saturday night.
After getting the first round bye in the tournament, the Lady Mavs played Hartfield Academy in the second round. The Lady Mavs trailed early to Hartfield in the second round game and found themselves trailing at the half. But timely shooting and multiple defensive stops would eventually propel the Lady Mavs past the Hawks of Hartfield 48-41. The win advanced the Lady Mavs to the championship game on Saturday where they would face a Central Hines team that had already defeated them twice during the regular season. The entirety of the game was very close, no team willing to give an inch.
There were many ties and lead changes throughout the tightly contested game.
Head Caoch Emily Poe talked about the close game saying “We had to stay focused and keep things under control”, and that’s just what they did. Throughout the entire game the Lady Mavs never faced more than a 3-point deficit. The Lady Mavs kept it close and were able to steal it at the end, winning 42-33.
Macy Huggins made clutch free throws to help seal the deal finishing with 11 points, all coming in the 4th quarter. Suzanne King led the Lady Mavs in points with 16. “Everyone contributed” says Poe, “Along with Macy and Suzanne, Ashlee Sowell and Elise Sowell both made huge 3 pointers to keep us in it early. Libbi Kyle Ragland played great defense, Lanie Potter was another key post scorer and Gracie Jones also gave us good minutes in the post.
Hannah Trammell also handled the ball and played defense well when we needed it.” This is the first time in 21 years the Lady Mavs have won the district championship, which happened to be Coach Poe’s senior year at Manchester. “To be a part of this is just awesome and I’m so proud of the girls.” says Poe.
The Lady Mavs will head to the North State playoffs February 13-18 where they have another first round bye. This means with just one win they will advance to the AAA state tournament. They will be playing as the District Champions for the first time since 1996.
