The Manhattan High boys basketball team, the seventh seed, will face Wichita East, the 10th seed, tonight in the sub-state semifinal for the right to go to the final and face the winner of Wichita West and Washburn Rural. 

The Tribe fell to Emporia early in the week, which put them down to nine seed. Later in the week, they had a huge win against Highland Park to assure a home game tonight in the first round of the playoffs. 

“It’s nice to play our first game at home with our fans,” senior Tyler Higgins said. “Friday’s game helped put some wind in our sails and got some momentum going into the playoffs.”

The boys’ win against Highland was huge in the seeding. The team came out firing, kept the ball and the led the majority of the time before defeating the Scots 62-54. 

Unlike the Highland Park game, the Indians were neck-in-neck with the Spartans and were down 52-55 with four minutes to go before falling 56-66 at the final buzzer.

As for the playoffs now, the team is done with the past and ready to take one game at a time. Higgins believes the Indians’ experience could help them with a playoff run. 

“We have a veteran group so we understand what’s needed to win,” Higgins said. “Taking it one game at a time is [huge]. We have to limit turnovers and get back in transition.”

Now just time will tell for the Tribe. If they win tomorrow, they will move on to the Sub-State final on Saturday. Those two games will determine whether they head to Wichita for State or not. 

“Playing together and playing confident is the biggest key,” junior Owen Braxmeyer said. “We need to keep trusting each other and playing to our strengths.”