Manhattan High clutches in final moments, wins 44-35

Micheal Simmons, Blue M Editor-In-Chief

The four starting seniors of Manhattan High Varsity girls basketball team (11-4, 7-2) are no strangers to having little time to secure a lead or being in a high pressure situation. But it was the underclassmen who delivered the final blow to Seaman, ending the game 44-35.

The team was only ahead by three points in the fourth quarter with only 1:10 left on the clock. Seaman had a chance to tie the game and put the pressure on MHS as they took a shot from the three-point line, but the hopes of that quickly died as senior Kia Wilson would block the shot.

“That was a huge defensive play,” Harper said. “Once we came out of that time out I pulled the girls on the court and told them that Seaman was going to go for a three and all we needed to do was to play good defense and not let them get a good look at a three. Once I saw [Wilson] got a hand on the ball, I was so relieved because I knew we could take care of it from there.”

After this, the remainder of the game would be smooth sailing for Manhattan.

“We had a lot of players who hit some clutch free throws down the stretch,” senior Taylor Johnson said. “They helped to keep us in the lead and we took care of the ball well when their defense was trying to pressure us, which helped a lot. We battled the entire game and we hit shots and made big plays in order to be ahead.”

Half of those clutch free throws came from junior Gaby Martinez as she drained four of them. Fellow junior Aloera Ostermann followed her up with two more, securing the lead and the game for MHS.  

“[To make those free throws] felt really good because those free throws were probably the most important free throws of the game,” Martinez. “They were definitely high pressure knowing the difference they would make. If I didn’t make those four, we would have been really tight on defense. Since I made them, we were able to be a little more laid back on defense and take our time on offense and it just felt really good making them because I know I did it for my team.”