Girls basketball collects third consecutive loss

Julianna Poe, Online Editor-in-Chief

While on the road, the Manhattan High Varsity girls basketball team took home a devastating loss to the Hayden Wildcats, going 41-48.

“We were crushed, hurt,” junior Destiny Yates said. “We thought that we were going to win. We had a lot of confidence in ourselves and it hurts a lot to know that we were right there with them and just needed to pull away and we didn’t.”

The girls, coming off of two losses to Topeka High and Highland Park, felt prepared going into their game against Hayden on Friday. Spirits were high and the team knew who to watch for from the Wildcats.

“We felt great. We had a lot of confidence in ourselves, and we had a lot of energy going into the game,” Yates said. “We knew … what we needed to apply pressure to and like what key people that they have to stop and be aware of.”

Manhattan was in the lead for the first two quarters of the game. According to Yates, senior Grace Dixon helped the team keep Hayden from getting ahead.

“[Dixon] was dominating the first half. She dominated the whole game,” Yates said. “Her confidence and just her shots [getting] into the basket, how aggressive she was. She was a huge factor in our success and leading the team.”

Unfortunately, the team fell apart in the second half, unable to put in enough baskets.

“Scoring [is] our biggest area that we need to work on is just scoring,” Yates said. “We have like either one or two people that can … score a lot, but … as a team, we all need to share the ball, go to the rim, apply pressure and try to score, shoot the ball.”

The team’s loss on Friday marks their third consecutive loss this season. So far, the team has yet to win a game.

“It’s not good. We do not like losing. Our team, we’re very competitive, and losing three times in a row, it sucks really bad,” Yates said. “But we still have confidence, we’re still optimistic in ourselves and we’re ready for [our] next two games before Christmas break.”

Over the course of the first few weeks of the season, according to Yates, the team has excelled at staying positive and team bonding.

“Compared to last year, our energy is amazing. It’s perfect,” Yates said. “We just struggle with … scoring. That’s really our only problem that we have. Our success [is] just our energy and how we talk with each other and how we communicate [and] how we all kind of know each other deeper on a more of a friendship level, or family [level].”

The team will play Junction City away on Tuesday and Topeka West at home on Friday.

“We feel amazing,” Yates said. “I’m not saying [any team is] an easy team because we’re going to treat every team the same.”