Top Ten: Highland Park (49), Manhattan (38)
TOPEKA, Kan.— Highland Park won a hard-fought defensive battle on Friday over Centennial rival Manhattan 49-38, and improved to 4-3 in the process. The contest was slow going throughout the first half, but Highland Park 2018 guard Dasani Giardina connected…
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Continue ReadingTOPEKA, Kan.— Highland Park won a hard-fought defensive battle on Friday over Centennial rival Manhattan 49-38, and improved to 4-3 in the process.
The contest was slow going throughout the first half, but Highland Park 2018 guard Dasani Giardina connected on a long 3 at the buzzer to give the Scotts a 19-15 lead at the break.
The second half was mostly all Highland Park as they led 36-27 at the end of three quarters and pulled away in the fourth.
Manhattan (4-2): Trevor Hudgins 8, Tommy Ekert 10, Ian Trapp 3, Cade Roberts 14, Josh Haus 1, Nathe Aubrey 1, Dawson Stewart 2.
Highland Park (4-3): Larry White 16, Da’Vonshai Harden 8, Dasani Giardina 11, Will White 7, Isaac Jameson 3, Tyree Florence-Patton 4.
MVP: Larry White (Highland Park); It was tough picking a top all-around performer in this one because Highland Park got a lot of contributions, but White was nails at the free throw line, going 12 of 14 and finishing with a game-high 16 points. He’s a long 6’4 2018 wing player that can do a lot of different things well.
Best offensive performance: Cade Roberts (Manhattan). Roberts is a long, lanky 6’7 2017 post player who made hay in this one at the high post, catching the ball in the middle of the Highland Park zone and knocking down several mid-range shots. He had a couple of nice finishes in the paint as well and on a night where Manhattan struggled at the offensive end, Roberts was one of the few bright spots offensively.
Best defensive performance: Team (Highland Park). Sometimes when you see a team hold an opponent under 40 it’s because they held the ball for a minute on every possession and left everyone in the gym wishing there was a shot clock, but that wasn’t the case on Friday. Highland Park just had Manhattan locked up. It didn’t hurs that Manhattan made just one 3 in the game, and that came late in the fourth quarter.
Best shooter: Will White (Highland Park). There were only five total 3-pointers made in this one and White made two of them in the first half. White was also impressive at the defensive end where he sat at the head of the Highland Park zone throughout most of the game and really harassed the Manhattan backcourt.
Player off the Bench: Tyree Florence-Patton (Highland Park). A 6’2 2018 forward, Florence-Patton had four points and four rebounds off the bench and played a lot of key minutes down the stretch.
Best rebounder: Ian Trapp (Manhattan). Also a football standout, the 6’2, 190-pound guard/forward Trapp had a nice all-around game, making several nice passes and finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
Best passer: Trevor Hudgins (Manhattan). One of the best pure passers you’ll see, he really does a good job of moving the ball, making the right pass and finding the open man. On this night, however, Manhattan might have needed Hudgins to look to score a little more.
Best underclassman: Da’Vonshai Harden (Highland Park). Harden is a 6’4 2020 forward with a big frame. He’s a strong athlete that lives on the baseline and is terrific at finishing plays in the paint. He also led HP in rebounding with six boards. Harden shows the ability to do a lot of different things and has a lot of upside, but in this one he did most of his damage in the paint.
Name to remember: Dasani Giardina (Highland Park). Competitive 2018 point guard that is listed at 5’9 but plays bigger than his listed height. Is quick with the ball, can shoot and get to the bucket and really competes at both ends of the floor.
Best match-up: Trevor Hudgins (Manhattan) vs. Dasani Giardina (Highland Park). Didn’t really guard each other much due to the zone defense being employed, but these are two of the better PGs in the league.