More than two weeks removed from its 63-27 road drubbing of Junction City, the Manhattan High girls basketball team’s calling card has been defense on its way to an unblemished 5-0 start.

That trend may need to continue Tuesday night when the Lady Indians host winless Seaman, a squad led by senior Jaylynn Evans-Patterson.

It’s Manhattan’s home-opener, but head coach Scott Mall said his team will need to pile on pressure on Evans-Patterson in order to notch another win.

“She’s a big part of their offense when she’s in there, Evans-Patterson. She’s 6-4, she moves well; she can score inside,” Mall said. “When she’s on the floor, [Seaman]’s offense and defense are completely different, so we’ll have to make sure we are knowing where she’s at; try to help out on her a lot; especially make sure we box her out on rebounds.”

If there is a silver lining for Manhattan when it comes to defending Evans-Patterson, it is that juniors Gigi McAtee and Kennedy Wilson have played with her in the summer. Still, though, McAtee said the defensive scheme will revolve around the 6-4 senior.

“She’s their main scorer, so getting around her and making sure we stop her is going to be a big thing,” McAtee said. “Their guards are short and quick, so just making sure we stop penetration so Kennedy doesn’t have to help off, so they don’t just give it to [Evans-Patterson] and score a layup.”

Mall anticipates the Lady Vikings to use a zone defense Tuesday night.

“We tried to work on it a lot over break, because we think we are going to see more zones in the next few games,” he said. “[We’re] working on ways to attack; ways to get the ball inside; ways to get some movement. A lot of times you tend to stand around against a zone and just shoot outside shots, so we want to make sure that we can get a lot of movement and be able to attack the inside of the zone and work from there.”

Senior Madison Mittie, Manhattan’s leading scorer, foresees Seaman opting for a variety of styles on offense, though all flowing through Evans-Patterson.

“They like to have fast breaks, try to get the opportunity to have fast breaks,” Mittie said. “But once they get it down the court, they can set it up and look for a good shot.”

And though defense will be an emphasis Tuesday night, there are a handful of offensive aspects to Manhattan’s game that have allowed for the perfect start, all of which Mall predicts will factor into the Seaman game.

“Offensively, it’s been a good mixture of our experienced players, [who] have really stepped up and carried the load,” Mall said. “And then our new girls have all fit in really well.”

Manhattan and Seaman are slated for a 6 p.m. tipoff in the MHS North Gym.