It is said the easiest way to learn is to lose. Manhattan High (10-4, 6-2 Centennial League) will test the validity of that statement, as the boys fell to Washburn Rural (10-4, 7-1 Centennial League) 53-41, in a game that was never truly close.

“[We learned] you can’t come into a game not prepared, over-confident and all those things,” head coach Benji George said, “because we can be good, but we’re not that good.”

Though both teams were slow out of the gate, Washburn recovered first. After senior Tommy Ekart missed a shot to open the game, Rural made a quick layup for the first points of the night. It would be its smallest lead, as Rural quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and never looked back.

“I just chalk it up to the fact that I don’t think we were really ready to play,” George said. “I told the guys in the locker room, ‘That starts with me. I have to make sure guys are ready to play.’”

It was the second quarter that doomed the Indians. After being down 16-10 at the end of one, MHS proceeded to score only five points, while allowing 17. A large part of Washburn’s offensive production was its transition offense and Manhattan’s struggle defending it.

“My philosophy about the game of basketball is not a mystery,” George said. “I tell them every single day that transition defense is the most important part, because every good team is going to be good in transition, and we were just awful in transition defense tonight. If we’re bad at the most important part of the game, then I think it bleeds over into other areas of the game.”

That firepower led to an 18-point deficit for Manhattan at halftime.  

“As tough as the league is this year,” George said, “we’re going to go through some stormy weather, and we went through a storm tonight.”

MHS opened the second half on a 7-2 run, hitting shots that just weren’t falling in the first half. However, Washburn always had an answer for any Manhattan run.

“We didn’t put both ends of the court together at all tonight,” George said. “We didn’t rise to the occasion in any facet of the game.”

Defensively, the Indians turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, allowing only one made field goal. Washburn found other ways to score, making 11 of its 12 free throws to put MHS away.

Manhattan would not go quietly, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter, good for its best offensive quarter. Ekart and senior Trevor Hudgins combined for 11 of those 15 points, as they finished with 13 and 11 points respectively. Junior Nate Awbrey added seven points, including the last basket of the game. It would prove too little, too late, as Washburn won going away 53-41.

With the win, Rural moves into first place in the league standings, as Manhattan falls to second place.

The Indians will look to rebound against Emporia Friday night. For George, a key will be playing with true energy.

“I think some of the enthusiasm that was there was faked tonight,” George said, “and I hope that getting beat brings out a real enthusiasm and a real energy about wanting to play the game, because I’m not sure any of that was there tonight.”