By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural boys climbed above .500 for the first time on the season Friday night, holding off Manhattan, 48-46, for a Centennial League decision at Rural.
Junior Kaden Ballard drained four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points in Washburn Rural's 48-46 Centennial League win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Sophomore John Hoytal scored 13 points in Washburn Rural's 48-46 Centennial League win over Manhattan Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
The Indians entered the game shorthanded, playing without a couple of starters due to illness. Washburn Rural held the visitors to just eight points in the first period, and just seven in the second. The Junior Blues, who improved to 10-9 overall and 7-2 in the league, led 23-15 at the half.
Manhattan began to get untracked in the third period, outscoring the Junior Blues 15-12. The rally continued with the Indians closing to within a possession midway through the fourth period.
Six missed free throws in the fourth period by the Junior Blues left the door open for the Indians down the stretch. A Manhattan 3-pointer cut the deficit to 48-46 with 18 seconds remaining. When Washburn Rural missed two free throws, the Indians had a chance. But the Junior Blues’ Kaden Ballard intercepted a pass to thwart the last-ditch effort.
“I’m glad that we got it done, but we’ve got to get stops,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins. “I think a lot of people will point to the missed free throws at the end. And obviously it would be nice to have those. But if they don’t score, those don’t become an issue, and we gave up way too many looks that last minute and a half. We’ve got to seal that off to finish a game.”
Helping to hold off the Indians’ rally was sophomore John Hoytal, who hit all four of his shots in the second half. He finished with 13 points.
“I would say since about the midseason tournament down in Pittsburg, John has come on really strong,” Hutchins said. “He’s just realizing where he can make an impact offensively and where he can pick his spots and score without stopping the ball. That’s a really good asset to have.
“He’s very smart as a sophomore. He does a great job cutting. He does a great job picking his spots to post up.”
Ballard led Washburn Rural, hitting four 3-pointers and all four of his free throws to finish with 16 points.
In a defensive slugfest, Hutchins would have liked for his offense to have found a spark.
“We really would have liked our defense to have led to offense,” Hutchins said. “We would have liked to have gotten out in transition, but we didn’t feel like we got enough stops to do that.”
The Junior Blues have just one more game, a home contest against Emporia, left on their regular season schedule.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 48, MANHATTAN 46
Manhattan 8 7 15 16 -- 46
Washburn Rural 12 11 12 13 -- 48
Manhattan (11-8, 5-4) – Kim 4-9 0-0 9, Braxmeyer 1-6 0-0 3, Stanard 1-1 2-4 4, McFadden 1-3 2-2 5, Newcomer 4-7 0-0 9, Speigel 4-6 2-2 10, Newton 1-3 0-0 2, Goos 1-3 2-4 4. Total: 17-38 8-12 46.
Washburn Rural (10-9, 7-2) – Jones 1-4 4-8 6, Ballard 4-9 4-4 16, Hoytal 6-9 1-1 13, Durst 2-5 1-4 5, Heim 0-1 1-2 1, Leonard 2-2 1-1 5, Chooncharoen 0-2 2-2 2. Total: 15-32 14-22 48.
3-point goals – Manhattan 4 (Kim 1, Braxmeyer 1, McFadden 1, Newcomer 1), Washburn Rural 4 (Ballard 4). Total fouls – Manhattan 23, Washburn Rural 15. Fouled out – Stanard, Newcomer. Technical fouls – None.
