After a rocky season of wins and losses, the Manhattan High Varsity girls basketball team added a win against Hayden, 65-40, for their last home game of the season on senior night.

“It felt really good,” senior Grace Dixon said. “It gave [the regular season] a good ending.”

Over the past two weeks, the team has had three home games and one away game. On Tuesday, Feb. 15, the girls defeated Highland Park by a 42-point margin, with nine total three-pointers from four different players. Junior Ally Ingram put in two back-to-back threes in quarter three.

“I was taking the shots my teammates were giving me,” Ingram said. “They were helping me out and making good passes and so it was really nice to capitalize off of that.”

Unfortunately, in the next two games, Manhattan fell to Washburn Rural away 54-17 on Friday, Feb. 18, and Seaman at home 47-40 on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

On Friday, the girls kept their heads in the game, staying in the lead throughout all four quarters. Three players collected double-digit point totals: Dixon with 17, junior Avery Larson with 14 and sophomore Maxine Doering with 11. Despite fouling out of the game with 1:33 left on the clock, Dixon was embraced and congratulated by her teammates, having collected the most points for the team in her final home high school game.

“I’m excited for college next year and just to go out with a good last game at home,” Dixon said.

As the only senior player in the Manhattan High girls basketball program, Dixon offers her underclassmen teammates some advice as the 2021-2022 season draws to a close and her future at Benedictine College is on the horizon.

“Work on shooting,” Dixon said. “Work on being a team player, don’t be selfish.”

The team will play against Hutchinson at SubState on Tuesday. Manhattan High is 11th seeded for Regionals.