Lady Lions grab number one seed and share of 3A-3 Conference title

Manila finally put away a pesky Hoxie team in the second half, securing the number one seed and a share of the 3A-3 conference championship with a 54-36 victory Thursday night at Manila.

The Lady Lions struggled to get their offense untracked early, scoring their first basket on a Taylor Teague lay-up with 3:09 left in the first period. Manila went into the second quarter with a 14-6 lead. The Lady Lions pushed their advantage to 12 points on back to back buckets by Kristen Wise and Kirsten Adcock to take a 20-8 lead with 5:08 left in the half. But the Lady Mustangs fought back and pulled to within 26-19 at intermission, thanks to a pair of late baskets by Krista Vankirk.

Adcock hit a couple of three point bombs in the third quarter and Emily Cook capped off the period with a 10-foot jumper to give the Lady Lions a 41-27 lead heading into the fourth stanza.

Teague began the fourth quarter with a bucket to push the Lady Lion lead to 16, and Devin Burrow put the exclamation point on the victory with a long three pointer from the cheap seats.

"I'm excited and really proud of our kids for securing the number one seed, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't do well in the district tournament," said Lady Lion coach Mark Manchester. "Clinching a share of the conference championship is a great accomplishment, and I think we are beginning to gel as a team. We are continuing to build on our chemistry, but we aren't there yet. We need to put four quarters together and continue to get better. We still have a long way to go. We need to take one game at a time."

Adcock led the Lady Lions with 16 points while Cook also hit double digits, scoring 11. Teague and Shelby Wallace tallied eight points apiece, Wise netted six while Burrow added five. Manila was sharp from the foul line, connecting on 13 of 14 attempts. The Lady Lions finished with five three pointers on the night.

Krista Soffell led Hoxie with 10 points.

Corning

Manila began the week with a hard fought 53-50 victory over Corning Monday night on the road. The Lady Lions used a balanced scoring attack to come away with the victory. Devin Burrow and Taylor Teague led Manila with 10 points apiece while Shelby Wallace, Kirsten Adcock and Emily Cook all scored eight points each. Adcock also grabbed nine rebounds. Charlie Smith chipped in seven points while Kristen Wise added two. The Lady Lions sank 21-28 foul shots and drained four three pointers.

Ashley Lane led the Lady Bobcats with 15 points while Katie Scheffler and Becca Young added 11 and 10 points respectively. Corning made 12-16 foul shots and nailed six three pointers.

Manila took a 15-12 lead after the first quarter before Corning rallied for a 27-26 halftime edge. Corning took a 45-41 advantage into the fourth period before Manila battled back to take the win.

In junior high action, Manila swept a pair of conference games, defeating Corning 37-32 before downing Hoxie 41-22.

Taylor Harmon led the Lady Lions over Corning, scoring 13 points. Shae Kulin tallied eight, Jordyn Wheeler netted seven, Kaitynn Boatman pitched in five while Lauren Woody added four points.

Kaytie Manalt scored a game high 16 points to lead Corning.

Boatman scored a game high 12 points to pace Manila over Hoxie. Harmon and Woody scored seven points apiece, Wheeler netted four, Kulin and Hannah Teague tallied three points each, Sarah Pentecost and Hannah McQueen chipped in two points apiece while Courtney Scott added one point to round out the Lady Lion offensive attack.

Manila will return to action Monday night when they travel to Wilson to take on Rivercrest in a key 3A-3 conference battle. The Lady Lions will close out the week against Piggott in another conference matchup.