Entering Tuesday’s contest, Benji George knew Shawnee Heights could shoot the three.

The Manhattan High boys basketball head coach also knew the Thunderbirds prefer a rather frantic, back-and-forth pace, similar to his own team’s style of play.

What he did not wish for, however, was for Heights to beat his team with those two weapons.

But the Thunderbirds did just that. The Indians fell on the road Tuesday night, 76-69, to Shawnee Heights.

And Heights took full advantage of the long ball: it peppered the net with 11 of them, including on three occasions in the fourth quarter, when the drama that loitered in the third quarter culminated in the fourth.

It began harmlessly for Manhattan: the Indians seized a 59-51 lead to open the frame. After the Thunderbirds had grabbed a brief lead in the third, the aura in the gym told of another strong fourth-quarter performance from the Indians, like they have done so often this season.

But Shawnee Heights had other plans, and after spraying home 10 threes, it turned to other scoring options.

The Thunderbirds’ first fourth-quarter lead came by way of guard Jesse Moss, who put his team up 61-60 with a layup. The arena that had been restless since the home team squandered the lead in the third stanza stirred.

It grew raucous just 30 seconds later, when the Indians coughed up the ball on their ensuing possession. The turnover led to two free throws from Michael Brooks, and the Thunderbirds’ lead was up to three, at 63-60.

But three points was what Manhattan got on its very next possession, when senior Gabe Awbrey, who finished the night with 17 points, canned a triple from the right wing.

The Indians’ leading scorer knocked down another 90 seconds later, but this trio of points did not tie the game. They brought Manhattan to within a point, at 69-68 with two minutes to play, but the deficit the Indians faced proved one they could not recover from.

But they had a chance to: senior Grant Munsen toed the free throw line with 39 seconds left, his team trailing 70-68. His first attempt touched only the net, but the second clanged off the rim.

“[I was] missing easy shots that I should be making; missing free throws,” he said. “Overall, easy things that could have been fixed.”

Brooks converted on two free throws on the other end, setting up the Indians with a three-point deficit — 72-69 — with 20 seconds left. That’s when things went wrong for Manhattan.

Awbrey, in an attempt to draw a foul on the shot, hoisted a desperation three from the top of the key, a wild shot that slammed off the top of the backboard and into the hands of Shawnee Heights’ Tyler Zentner. Awbrey tried to poke the ball free, but in the process, became tangled up with Zentner. After both players attempted to free themselves, the officials saw enough physicality to warrant a technical foul on Awbrey.

The result was the Thunderbirds making two-of-four free throws, and by then, the drama had ceased. Shawnee Heights handed the Indians their first loss in Centennial League play.

Awbrey said his three-point attempt was not the play George drew up.

“It was a play for Trevor [Hudgins] to drive into the basket, and then he didn’t get anything off it,” Awbrey said. “We kind of got scrambled, and then I just threw up a three.”

George explained the fourth-quarter breakdown was due in part to his team’s lack of maturity.

“I thought we got caught up in some very immature things tonight,” he said. “I’ve been talking all year about how mature we were, and I thought that when the going got tough tonight, some of our immaturity showed through.”

To the crowd watching, the drama that was the fourth quarter may not have seemed probable in the first eight minutes. The Indians darted out to a 22-14 lead after the first frame, on three long balls, with misses few and far between.

But while he appreciated the advantage on the scoreboard, George said the sizable lead at the outset may have set the stage for the team’s letdown in the fourth.

“I thought it did. I thought we definitely lost our edge a little bit there,” he said. “We need to do a better job of sustaining runs and keeping our competitive desire high.”

The first quarter was the lone period that the Indians completely controlled. After junior Tommy Ekart opened the second with a layup, widening his team’s lead to 24-14, the Thunderbirds ripped off nine straight points on three triples, and Heights clawed to within one, while at the same time setting up the rest of the game’s theatrics.

Manhattan entered halftime with a narrow 34-33 lead.

The Thunderbirds, just an intermission removed from standing on the brink of a lead, seized it in the third. Heights’ Poncho Freeman, who totaled 25 points, connected on a floater to send his team to a four-point lead.

Manhattan responded, though, with a quick 6-0 run, but the tight game had already been arranged, one that ended with the Indians’ second loss of the year.

One of the flagships of this Manhattan High team has been its defense, which entered Friday allowing just under 53 points per game.

Ekart, who returned to the lineup after missing last Friday’s game with a shoulder injury, said the 76 it allowed Tuesday night was an anomaly.

“Sometimes we just don’t have it,” he said. “Tonight was one of those nights.”

But as much as his team’s defense allowed for the Thunderbirds’ resurgence, George said he appreciated getting Ekart back into the lineup, as the junior has proven one of the Indians’ most electric presences on defense.

“He was great tonight. I thought he did a good job defensively,” George said. “He probably was our bright spot defensively, and shot the ball pretty well too.”

Manhattan, now 13-2 on the year, gets a pair of days to refine its defense before it hosts Washburn Rural Friday night.

And given his team’s meteoric rise to the top of the Centennial League, George expects the Junior Blues’ best shot.

“Right now, we’re kind of everybody’s Super Bowl,” he said. “When we’re sitting up at the top of the mountain in league, teams are going to desperately want to beat us.”