The Manhattan High Varsity boys basketball team (4-4) fell to the Topeka High Trojans (6-1) last Friday night 53-32 in Topeka. The game started out quite interesting after Topeka High shot two free throws, before the clock even started.

“They said that we dunked the ball at halftime of the girls game,” head coach Benji George said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a dunk, if you through the ball through the basket forcefully then it counts as a dunk.”

As a result of the Jonah Artis, junior, dunk, Topeka High was awarded two free throws and the ball to start the game. From there, the Trojans would go on an 10-0 run before a timeout was called by the Indians.   

“I jumped [Artis] about the dunk, the technical, and really I thought it would motivate him, focus him, and get him ready to play,” George said. “We took the court unready to play.”

Topeka High didn’t slow down. The Trojans were up 23-9 at the end of the first quarter. At the half, the Indians were down to the Trojans, 31-17. Shot after shot went in. The Trojans went an astonishing 47% from the three point line while the Indians only shot 15%. The Tribe just couldn’t get into rhythm during the game. The Indians shot 11-43 in total from the field.

A takeaway from the game was Artis got his first minutes for the Indians this season. He had to sit out seven games because of transfer reasons. Artis went 2-4 from the field, had two rebounds, and was 3-5 from the free throw line.

“It feels good to play with the team,” Artis said. “It feels amazing to get back on the court after a long time sitting out.”

The Manhattan Indians Varsity basketball team (4-4) will face off with the Emporia Spartans (5-3) tonight at home in a key Centennial League matchup.

“If we stick to our roots and play tough defense I believe we could take out Emporia and prove a point to the Centennial League that we aren’t a joke,” Artis said. “It would be a good home win for us.”