Manila defeats Colts, advances to 3A-3 district title game

Manila advanced to the 3A-3 District Championship game with a hard fought 66-57 victory over Rivercrest Friday night at Corning.

Lion senior Dillon Burrow drained a critical three pointer with 1:50 left in the game, giving Manila the lead for good, 58-57. Rivercrest's Robert Cooney, who led all scorers with 26 points, missed the front end of a one and one with 1:20 left, and Manila's Scott Eubanks skied high to snare the rebound.

Manila ran the clock down to the 44 second mark before the Colts were forced to foul Brady Jones. Jones connected on the front end of the one and one but missed the second foul shot. Eubanks grabbed the rebound and put in the offensive stick-back, giving Manila a 61-57 lead. Eubanks came away with a steal on the Colts' next possession to ice the game away.

"Dillon Burrow's three with a little less than 2:00 to go saved us," said Lion Coach Bill Taylor. "Scott Eubanks made a couple of plays down the stretch, getting the tough rebounds and coming away with a steal. A game like this comes down to one or two plays, and I thought Burrow's bucket and Eubanks' rebounds and steal were the difference. Zack Day's offense in the first half kept us in the game. We were struggling early offensively. I thought our post players were out of sync in the first half, but they were the difference in the second half," said Taylor.

Manila fell behind early, 9-2, but fought back to pull within 13-12 after the first quarter, thanks to a pair of three pointers by Day. The Lions took a 28-26 lead into the dressing room at the half before the Colts rallied to tie the game, 43-43, after three quarters of play.

Day drained four three pointers on his way to a team high 17 points to lead Manila. Eubanks scored 16 while Jones added 13. Burrow tallied nine, Blake Carr netted five, Garrett Baker scored four while Dylan Bogle pitched in two. Manila was good from the line, hitting 18-22 and drilled eight treys on the night.

Joining Cooney in double figures for the Colts were Khalil Williams who scored 13 while Garrett Lane added 10. Rivercrest finished five of eight from the line and hit four three pointers.

Manila will open regional tournament play Thursday afternoon at 5:30 at Flippin.