Top-5 ranked Manual overcame a four-point deficit in the final minutes to defeat CAL in the championship game of the Republic Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic.

 

The game remained close throughout with eight lead changes before Manual's April Wilson came alive in the 4th quarter with 13 points.

 

Summary and stats to follow...

Congrats to both teams. Looks like a pretty good game

End of 1st Qtr.: CAL 16, Manual 11

Halftime: CAL 30, Manual

End of 3rd Qtr.: CAL 41, Manual 37

Final: Manual 62 CAL 57

 

Scoring:

Manual: Wilson 18, Jones 11, Wright 9, Guess 8, Klein 5, Harbison 4, Hester 3, Martin 2, Wright 2

CAL: Slaughter 23, Buchanan 14, Karst 10, Bowman 6, Walden 4

 

Shooting:

Manual: Total FG 22/55 (40%), 3-pt. 6/14 (42.9%), FT 12/17 (70.6%)

CAL: Total FG 15/38 (39.5%), 3-pt. 5/10 (50%), FT 22/30 (73.3%)

 

Summary:

 

1st quarter: After an early injury scare for Avery Jones of Manual, the Lady Crimsons took an early lead by creating some CAL turnovers. CAL responded with a surge of its own, breaking the press for an easy bucket by Bowman and forcing Manual to foul to stop additional run-outs. Karst scored on one lay-up and went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for a 16-11 margin in favor of CAL.

 

2nd quarter: It was Avery Jones' turn to shine in the 2nd period, scoring 9 points with some nice moves in the paint. CAL also worked it inside to Slaughter for 6 and Bowman for 4 before she got into some foul trouble trying to slow down Jones. A basket just before halftime cut CAL's lead to one at 30-29 and provided some momentum for Manual.

 

3rd quarter: Both coaches must have made some frontcourt defensive adjustments because the scoring moved to the perimeter, especially for CAL with Buchanan knocking down two 3-pointers and Slaughter finding the range on a third. Manual found an open Guess as their go-to shooter for 6 points but still trailed 41-37.

 

4th quarter: Where there's a "Wil"son, there's a way. Slaughter scored 12 of her 23 in the 4th quarter, but Wilson scored 13 to turn a 4-point deficit of 55-51 into a 62-57 win with three 3-pointers and 4/4 from the charity stripe. The five-point margin was the largest lead of the game for Manual after she hit the free throws to overcome the Lady Centurions.

 

Key to the game: Beforehand, I thought the difference might be turnovers and free throws similar to CAL's morning semifinal game against Mercy, but the turnovers were nearly a draw and CAL shot free throws well at 73%. In this game, second-chance points determined the outcome, allowing Wilson to have extra shots when it mattered most. The teams tied at 20 on defensive rebounds, but the Lady Crimsons corralled a 9-rebound advantage on the offensive end leading to 13 points on 2nd-chance shots. Buchanan collected 10 rebounds for CAL as part of her double-double, but with Bowman's playing time limited due to foul trouble, others were unable to make up the gap.

 

Records:

Manual: 9-0

CAL: 10-1

 

Final thoughts:

With 3 of the final 4 squads belonging to the 7th region in this top-notch annual tournament of 28 teams, it's easy to believe the words of the official scorer sitting next to me. In the game's closing moments, he stated, "The 7th region will be a war this year." Manual, CAL, Mercy, Sacred Heart, Assumption are all still scheduled to play each other at least one more time during the regular season, possibly again in the LIT, and potentially in districts/regionals. Only one will survive to reach the Sweet 16 where other powers await.

Congrats to Manual on a well-earned victory.

 

The 7th will, indeed, be quite the war. I have to believe that Manual / CAL / Mercy are the "Big Three" right now, though.

Congrats to Manual. I can't wait till the 7th region tourny.