Wildcats suffer five-point loss to Manchester

MOWRYSTOWN — Celebrating their homecoming on Friday night, the Whiteoak Wildcats played close against the visiting Manchester Greyhounds, but ultimately MHS was just five points better than the hosts, with Whiteoak falling by a 49-44 score. 

The Southern Hills Athletic Conference game included a tough start for the Wildcats as they were outscored 15-4 in the first quarter, though it was Whiteoak’s Zander Roades first to score points in the game with a jumper. 

It was the Greyhounds scoring the next 10 points for a 12-2 advantage with 4:05 left in the quarter. 

WHS (5-5, 8-9) came back with a layup by Sawyer Blair, but the Greyhounds ended the first quarter with a 3-pointer from Braylan Roberts at the buzzer. 

Whiteoak responded with an 18-point second quarter, while holding Manchester to eight points for a halftime score of 23-22 with Manchester (3-6, 9-8) holding the lead at the mid-game break. 

Blair scored the first points of the quarter with a layup off a steal, and after points by the Greyhounds, Roades hit his first of two 3-pointers of the second quarter with 6:03 left on the clock. 

WHS then had Roades make three consecutive free throws, cutting Manchester’s lead down to five points. 

As the quarter continued, though WHS never held the lead, they went back and forth with their SHAC foe as Brady Brandenburg and Jonah Michael added points in the frame, with WHS eventually getting to within a point of the Manchester lead. 

The Wildcats never held the lead in the third — though they trailed by as many as eight points in the quarter — they battled back in the final 2:03 of the quarter with a jumper from Brandenburg, followed by a 3-pointer from the corner by Christopher Wessner, and a jumper from Roades for a 7-0 run, and a 32-31 score after three frames. 

Whiteoak held the lead once in the final frame, that coming with a layup from Roades for a 33-32 WHS advantage with 7:42 left in regulation. 

From there, Manchester built a seven-point lead with an 8-0 run for a 40-33 score with 4:47 on the clock. 

WHS got back to within three points of the lead with four straight points by Roades, but the deficit kept from three to five points until Manchester built a seven-point lead with 10.5 seconds left in regulation. 

Roades made it a four-point deficit with a late 3-pointer, but the Greyhounds made it a five-point victory with one final free throw. 

WHS was led in the scoring column by Roades with 18 points, making three two-point field goals, three 3-pointers and he was 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. 

Blair finished with 10 points, making five two-point field goals, and with eight points was Brandenburg off four made baskets. 

Whiteoak also had two points by Jackson Tedford and three points each from Michael and Christopher Wessner (a 3-pointer). 

The Wildcats’ team totals included 13 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

Roberts led Manchester with 23 points, followed by Parker Hayslip with 10 points, and Elijah Crabtree with six points. 

Also scoring points for MHS were Ronnie Elam with two points, Braylen Rickett with four points and Leland Horner totaled four points. 

Final team totals for the Greyhounds included 17 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and they were 6-of-16 from the free-throw line. 

BOX SCORE
MHS    15 08 09 17 — 49
WHS    04 18 09 13 — 44

MANCHESTER (49) — P.Hayslip 3 (0) 4-5 10, B.Roberts 7 (3) 0-7 23, R.Elam 1 (0) 0-0 2, B.Rickett 2 (0) 0-0 4, L.Horner 1 (0) 2-4 4, E.Crabtree 3 (0) 0-0 6. TOTALS: 17 (3) 6-16 49. 

WHITEOAK (44) — Z.Roades 3 (3) 3-3 18, S.Blair 5 (0) 0-1 10, J.Tedford 0 (0) 2-2 2, B.Brandenburg 4 (0) 0-0 8, J.Michael 1 (0) 1-2 3, C.Wessner 0 (1) 0-0 3. TOTALS: 13 (4) 6-8 44.