The Manhattan High girls Varsity basketball team beat Seamen 61-38 on Friday at MHS, making their record 8-0. Although the score doesn’t reflect it, this game had a few surprises for the Indians.

The Indians got off to a slow start in the first quarter, scoring 13 points and allowing the Vikings to score seven. This was unusual for the Indians because by the end of the first quarter they usually have a significant lead.

“First half I thought we were a little sluggish on both ends of the floor, and offensively we had some great shots but we didn’t get them in the basket,” head coach Scott Mall said.

The team didn’t take long to notice that they were playing a little sluggish and quickly adapted. Later in the game after the first quarter, they were able to play at their normal pace. Seamen was ranked second in the Centennial League, behind MHS. The team as a whole performed very well after being able to adapt to the faster pace of Seamen, holding them to an average of scoring only about 9 points per quarter, and 38 overall.

“I think maybe it was because we haven’t played in awhile and they were one of the best teams we played this season,” sophomore Kia Wilson said, “and just starting off slow, I think it was just this game.”

The Indian offense scored 61 points from shooting 52 field goals, and was able to score five of 11 from three-point range. They were also able to score eight out of 20 free throws, giving them a 40 percent  for the entire game, which was half of the percentage of what it was in their previous game against Shawnee Heights. This shows how different the team played compared to how they normally play.

“[Wilson] had a big game, she really picked us up,” Mall said. “She made some good plays in the first half and had a great start in the second half with making plays on defense and finishing plays on offense.”

Wilson achieved a new season high of 18 points, making four of seven free throws. In addition to her new season high, Wilson was also the highest scoring player followed by sophomore Garrin Williams, who scored 13 points from 6 field goals. Williams was three for four with her three-point shooting. Both of these players were key offensive components in helping Manhattan beat Seamen.  

“[Wilson] is capable of doing it all the time, we just need to get her the ball and defensively she did a good job,” Mall said.

In the Indian’s previous game against Shawnee Heights, Wilson was the second highest-scoring player behind junior Chrissy Carr who scored 16 points. Wilson scored eight points that came from four field goals, and she made four of four free throws in the Shawnee Heights game.

“I just feel like tonight was an off night, and you know everyone has off nights,” Carr said. “I just feel like our team did a good job of making up for it and being able to step up and make big shots, it shows that our team isn’t revolving around one person and how well rounded our team is.”

Carr is usually one of the higher scoring players, normally scoring in the double digits but due to her off night, she was only able to score four points.The difference in her performance shows how much her teammates had to step up in order to fill that void of points.

The next game is the McPherson tournament which takes place next Thursday-Saturday at McPherson.