The Girls Varsity Basketball team beat their Junction City rivals 70-40 in their first home game of the season, making them 4-0 last Friday night. Although the 70 points scored by Manhattan High School girls Indians is now a season-high, the team still had an amazing performance on defense. The MHS girls got off to a great start in the first quarter, only giving up four points and scoring 17, seven of which came from Christianna Carr, a junior who was also the second highest scoring player with putting up 14 points overall.

“We worked specifically on press which helped us out a lot tonight,” junior Maggie Morgan said.

Their defense performed extremely well when put under pressure from the Junction City offense. Comparing this game to the other games that they have played so far this season, it seems like the team was livelier and more efficient on both sides of the ball. Keeping Junction City out of the paint and stopping drive-penetration was a key factor in how the defense was able to successfully stop the Blue Jays offense. Both teams had an offense that flowed very well and was efficient in getting the ball down the court, but it was the defense that decided the outcome.

“I thought it was a real team effort.” Head Coach Scott Mall said.

Looking at the MHS girls’ offense shows that it was nothing less than a team effort, with each player scoring an average of nearly nine points during the game and the highest scoring player, Kia Wilson, scoring 16. The offense couldn’t have set that season-high or have succeeded without every member of the team contributing as much as they did.

“We executed really well, and played really well as a team,” Morgan said.

The team chemistry was something that definitely played a role in the MHS girls’ near-perfect performance on both sides of the ball. On offense, the team’s chemistry helped them move the ball around the court a lot quicker than the Junction City defense could respond and adjust which was a very important key factor in how they were able to be so successful.

On defense, the MHS girls were able to identify and respond really well and fast to the Junction City offense which was why they were able to hold them at, at least a 10-point deficit through the entire game and a final 30-point deficit at the end of the game.