HIGH-SCHOOL

Manhattan girls roll early, whip Topeka West

Todd Fertig Special to The Capital-Journal

An almost entirely scoreless first quarter for the Topeka West girls, book-ended by a scoreless fourth quarter, squelched any hopes the Chargers had of upsetting Manhattan on Friday night. The Indians went home with 45-15 victory and gave the Chargers their seventh loss in eight contests.

The Indians bolted out of the gate with five points in the first minute, turning Charger turnovers into quick points. Manhattan kept up the pressure and forced 10 first-quarter miscues by Topeka West. So stifling was the defense that the Chargers attempted just nine shots in the first period. A basket by Tialah Taylor with 18 seconds remaining finally broke the ice.

The Chargers shut the visitors down for much of the second period, cutting the deficit to 14. But an 8-0 run by the Indians closed out the half. Taylor and Miyah Larson each scored four points in the first half to lead Topeka West.

Manhattan, meanwhile, cycled 10 players in and out in the first half, and all but one scored. Jaiden Weixelman drilled two 3-pointers from the point guard spot to lead Manhattan with seven first-half points.

“We got some good looks,” Indians coach Scott Mall said. “We got some open shots, and that started us off. We had one stretch in the second quarter where we were looking to make things happen too early. We were making some iffy passes. We got a little sloppy during that stretch.”

The Indians came back out after halftime and fed Zanaa Cordis, their 6-foot-3 post player, who quickly tallied three consecutive buckets. In just a few minutes, Manhattan extended its lead to 41-10.

“We’re in a rut with our confidence,” Charger coach David Meseke said. “It’s going to take something good to happen for us to build some confidence.

“Credit to Coach Mall. He does a great job of scouting. He knew exactly what we were doing the whole time. We couldn’t stop (Cordis) down there. We tried to double-team her, but credit to them. They just stuck it to us.”

Cordis sat much of the game and finished with just eight points as Mall went deep into his bench.

“It’s good that everyone else got the opportunity to play a lot,” the Manhattan coach said. “We lean on (Cordis) a lot, so it’s nice for the other girls to open things up a little bit.”

Larson led Topeka West with seven points, trailed by Taylor with six.

Cordis led Manhattan’s starters with eight, followed by Weixelman with seven. Grace Davis came off the bench for nine points to lead the Indians.

With reserves in the game and the clock running continuously, neither team scored in the fourth period.

The Indians evened their record at 5-5 and improved to 3-4 in the Centennial League.

“There’s plenty to improve on,” Mall said. “We’re not always in the spots we want to be defensively. We’d still like to be more consistent offensively. There’s still a lot we can do better.”

MANHATTAN GIRLS 45, TOPEKA WEST 15

Manhattan;19;13;13;0;—;45

Topeka West;2;8;5;0;—;15

Manhattan (5-5, 3-4) — Weixelman 2 1-2 7, Claussen 2 0-0 4, A. Ostermann 1 1-4 4, Martinez 0 1-2 1, Cordis 4 0-0 8, Knopp 2 0-0 4, Yates 2 0-0 5, E. Ostermann 1 0-0 3, Dixon 4 1-4 9, Awbrey 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-12 45.

Topeka West (1-7, 1-6) — Shima 0 0-0 0, Triplett 0 0-0 0, Larson 3 0-0 7, Davis 0 1-4 1, Taylor 3 0-1 6, Benson 0 0-0 0, Eldridge 0 1-2 1, Henderson 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-2 0, Ford 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 2-9 15.

3-point goals — Manhattan 5 (Weixelman 2, A. Ostermann 1, Yates 1, E. Ostermann 1); Topeka West 1 (Larson 1). Total fouls — Manhattan 16; Topeka West 10. Fouled out — none.