The girls’ basketball team showed no mercy on Friday, Feb. 13 as they defeated the Seneca Redhawks on senior night by a score of 83-14.

Marlena Groves (#10, 12) entered the starting lineup for the Crimsons as a nod to her hard work over the past four years with the team. Tonysha Curry remained a starter in her final home regular season game in a Manual uniform.

The Crimsons were heavily favored against the Redhawks, a team that held a 5-20 record coming into the game. Manual quickly showed why they were the favorite by coming out and scoring 33 points in the first quarter and allowing Seneca to only score two.

Coach Jeff Sparks attributed tonight’s success to playing good team basketball.

“We had people playing together, we had 15 assists at the half,” said Sparks.

Manual continued to dominate the game as Jaela Johnson (#3, 11) and Tonysha Curry (#23, 12) led the team as they have done all season long. The Crimsons capitalized on fast breaks, scoring a large number of their points in transition during the first half. Manual led 62-8 at halftime.

Coach Sparks began to sub in the younger players in an effort to give rest to the starters for next week’s big game against the rival Male Bulldogs. The running clock rule—meaning that the clock does not stop unless a timeout is called—was in effect for the second half as Manual was leading by more than 36 points.

The Crimsons continued to take care of business in the second half, winning by a final score of 83-14.

Next Friday Manual will travel to Male High School to wrap up the regular season in a clash of the state’s two top 10 ranked teams. The Lady Bulldogs (25-2) sit at #3 in the state, while Manual (18-6) is currently ranked #7 in the Litkenhous Ratings.

“It was a really positive night overall and we need that, not only going into next week for Male but the postseason in general. As many positive vibes as we can get,” said Coach Sparks.

The Crimsons look to avenge last year’s heartbreaking 55-44 loss to Male. They will need to play an excellent game on both ends of the floor in order to beat a Bulldogs team that has only lost twice this year so far.

“As far as the confidence, it boosts it a lot. Although the other team wasn’t very good, it puts everybody in a good head space,” said Jaela Johnson (#3, 11).

The team will play in the 25th district tournament at Manual to start the postseason on February 20th.