Mustangs stampede Lions 64-48

Manila showed grit and determination, rallying from 18 points down to pull to within four, but Hoxie withstood the storm and raced to a 64-48 3A-3 conference victory Friday night at Manila.

Hoxie dominated most of the first half and led 33-15 at the 3:43 mark of the second quarter before the Lions began their comeback, outscoring the Mustangs 8-2 to close the halftime deficit to 35-23.

The Lions began the third quarter with back to back three pointers from Kyle Evans and J.J. Helton. Garrett Scott drove the baseline for a two pointer, slicing the Hoxie lead to 35-31, completing an 8-0 Manila run with 5:47 left in the third stanza.

After a Mustang timeout, Justin Weitkamp scored from the inside followed by a three pointer from Morgan Puckett, stopping the Lion rally as Hoxie went up 40-31 at the 4:27 mark. A pair of free throws by Cade Crisler finished off the Mustang's 7-0 burst, and the Lions never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

"I thought our kids competed outstandingly," said Manila coach Jeral Hudspeth. "We had some problems with the inside-outside game at times, but we came out in the third quarter and did a lot better. I couldn't be more proud of the kids. They really played hard tonight. Hoxie is an outstanding team. There are about four teams in this league that are really good that have a chance to do well statewide, and Hoxie is one of them. It's a tough conference."

Hoxie came within one point of placing five players in double figures as the Mustangs used a balanced scoring attack that kept the Lion defense off balance much of the night. Beau Sisco and Justin Weitkamp led the Pony offense with 13 points apiece while Morgan Puckett and Cade Crisler added 11 and 10 points respectively. Nate Ragsdale came up one point short of double figures, finishing with nine. Hoxie shot a blistering 16-19 from the foul line and hit six treys on the evening.

Manila placed three players in double figures, led by Kyle Evans who ripped four treys on his way to a 14 point performance. J.J. Helton scored 12 while Garrett Scott finished with 10 points. Levi Wallace netted six, Cody Webb tallied four and Tray Malone added two for the Lions, who hit 6-10 foul shots. Manila drained eight three pointers on the night.

Manila took to the road earlier in the week but came up short in a 56-37 loss at Corning. Kyle Harvey pumped in 24 points while Zack Brown added 16 more to pace the Bobcat attack. Corning held a 15-13 lead after one period and stretched their advantage to 29-17 at the half. The Bobcats led 49-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Garrett Scott and J.J. Helton led the Lions with eight points apiece while Jared Burks pitched in six. Levi Wallace and Cody Webb scored four points each while Tray Malone contributed three.

Kyle Evans and Joe Thompson added two points apiece.

In junior high action, Manila split a pair of conference games, downing Corning 47-33 before dropping a 43-30 decision to Hoxie.

The junior Lions put four players in double figures in the win over Corning. Dylan Bogle led Manila with 11 points while Dillon Burrow, Blake Miller and Zack Day added 10 points apiece. Zach Reinhart and Garrett Baker pitched in three points apiece.

Marcus Vowell led Corning with 11 points.

Zack Crisler scored 17 points to lead Hoxie past the Lions Friday night. Manila was led in scoring by Dillon Burrow who had eight points while Zack Day and Colbey Williams scored six points apiece. Blake Miller tallied five, Korey Cain netted three while Dylan Bogle knocked down two points to round out the Lion scoring on the night.

Manila returns to action Tuesday night, traveling to Tuckerman to take on the Bulldogs. Manila will host Piggott in their homecoming game Friday night at Manila.