Manual defends home court against No. 5 Fern Creek

Zach Recktenwald stands surprised after the ball goes in the basket following a half court shot in 2018.

Aliyah Lang
December 14, 2019

Last night, Manual’s boys basketball team (4-1) defeated the Fern Creek Tigers (2-3) with a score of 69-61.

First half :

In the opening minutes, Manual and Fern Creek struggled handling the ball. The first few possessions consisted of three consecutive turnovers between the two teams. 

The first half was back and forth with various score changes. At the end of the first quarter, Manual led Fern creek 16-15, but by the end of the first half, the Crimsons trailed Fern Creek 30-34. 

The leading scores of the first half were Fern Creek’s Jaden Rogers (#3, 11) and Darrius Washington (#22, 11), both with 11 points. For the Crimsons, freshman Brady Hurley (#42) led Manual with 10 points off of the bench. 

Second half:

To start the third quarter, Fern Creek went on a 6-0 run against Manual, bringing the score to 40-30 with just 2:05 minutes underway. 

This momentum would continue as Fern Creek held Manual to only nine points total in the quarter. Concluding the third period, Manual was down 39-47. 

Within the first 2:50 played of the final quarter, the Crimsons went on an 11-2 run to regain the lead, 50-49. 

The shift of Manual’s play was primarily led by Parker Smith(#21, 11). Smith had back-to-back crowd-pleasing plays, consisting of an and-one (a play where the athlete is fouled while taking a shot), and a fast break dunk assisted by Koji Anderson (#10, 10). 

Manual’s play would not slow down throughout the remainder of the quarter, resulting in a final score of 69-61 for the Crimsons.

Manual’s win was led by Anderson with 13 points and five assists, Smith with 13 points, two assists and Eli Roberts (#24, 12) with 16 points. The game leader was Fern Creek’s Darrius Washington with 17 points and three assists. 

The Crimsons will play at Shawnee on Dec 17 at 7:30 in a district matchup.