On Tuesday night, the varsity boys’ basketball team continued their domination on the court against rival Louisville Male High School in the quarterfinal of the seventh region tournament. 

A little over two weeks ago, the Crimsons pulled off a significant win over Male 70-46 in a regular season matchup. Last night, the two teams drew each other for the seventh region bracket.

1st Half

Both teams came out fast, the Bulldogs winning the tip-off. Manual continued their high pressure defense on Male, which was also seen in the regular season matchup. Male swarmed for rebounds, giving the Crimsons’ Justice Decker (#1, 11) a hard time under the basket. Manual opted to double team when the Bulldogs’ Cole Edlen (#0, 10), top three-point shooter in the state, had possession. Manuals’ Josh Darst (#13, 12) guarded Edlen most of the game, holding him to 14 points. 

During the rest of the 1st quarter, Male struggled offensively with Cole Edlen swarmed. Crimsons’ Malachi Coleman (#3, 11) was given no room to work in the offensive end. Male had a run after Manual left “non dangerous” players to hit uncontested shots in the paint. Justice Decker (#1, 11) took back momentum, getting all the room around the rim for short floaters. The 1st quarter ended with Manual leading 15-9.

Multiple uncontested shots in fast breaks by Male led to a decision by the Crimsons to get back on defense after a missed shot to prevent fast breaks instead of an offensive rebound. Darin Wells (#2, 12) matched up with Edlen (#0, 10). Edlen had to become more shifty with shot fakes and pass fakes to get himself and the team on the stat sheet. At the 4:21 mark, Manual led 17-13.

Manual took off at the end of the 1st half. The score at the half was 31-19, Manual. 

2nd Half

Right out of the half, Bulldogs’ Jason Gasaway (#31, 11) downs a three, followed by strong man-to-man coverage against Manual’s offense. Edlen continues to be tough to stop. Ryan Sheen (#4, 12) for the Crimsons downs a three to stop the quick gaining momentum of Male. The Crimsons’ attempted to slow the ball down to make a high percentage opportunity to the basket but unfortunately were unsuccessful. While the offense was lacking, the defense was now lowering their pressure allowing for uncontested points beyond the paint for Male.

Manual head coach Miquel Coleman took a timeout in hopes to pause the quickly devastating momentum Male had while the Bulldogs’ head coach Tim Haworth in the timeout hypes up his players with the phrase “our game”. 

Unlike the first half, Manual has chosen not to swarm and double-team Edlen. Edlen hit a three but not without a response from Manual’s Ryan Sheen from the outside. After a quiet beginning quarter for Justice Decker, he refuses to take bullying from under the rim, making some contested layups. 

End of third quarter 44-34, Manual.

The beginning of the fourth was a heated one between the coaches and referees, with multiple disagreements occurring about calls. Justice Decker took no break coming out with a great block after a long defensive set for the Crimsons. 

The Bulldogs had some slip ups at the start of the fourth, trying some tricky plays leading to a three-point play for Manual. But, unforced turnovers by the Crimsons led to a short momentum shift to Male. Efficient fast breaks for Manual and low pressure defense by the Bulldogs led the game to an end.

Final Score: 70-55

The Crimsons will head to Valley High School Friday night for a semi-final matchup against Trinity. Tip off at 5:30 pm.