Manual boys, Male girls win in heated doubleheader

The Seventh Region boys basketball race has been muddled all season, and that didn’t change at Manual High School on Friday.

The host Crimsons, who were 9-9 midway through January, continued a late-season surge by getting 24 points from Steve Gordon and beating rival Male 89-80 in front of a loud sellout crowd at Butch Charmoli Gymnasium.

“This is real big for a couple of reasons,” Manual coach Jimmy Just said. “No. 1, it gives us a lot of confidence going into the tournament. No. 2, it keeps us going in the right direction at the end of the year.”

Manual, which also beat St. Xavier earlier this month, improved to 16-11 and snapped a four-game losing streak to the rival Bulldogs.

Bellarmine University signee Alex Cook scored 31 points to lead Male (24-4), No. 11 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings. The Bulldogs’ 10-game losing streak came to an end.

GALLERY: Male-Manual girls

It was an uphill battle all night for Male, which trailed 49-40 at halftime and was down 16 points early in the fourth quarter before making a late run.

“My biggest disappointment is giving up 49 points in the first half,” Male coach Willie Feldhaus said. “I’d like to think we stress defense a little bit more than that.”

Noah Hawkins’ basket gave Manual a 73-57 lead with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter before Male took advantage of several Crimsons turnovers to pull even.

Rasean McCauley’s basket completed a 19-3 run that tied the score at 76 with 2:23 left.

“We were like, ‘We can’t lose to Male’” Gordon said. “We’ve lost to them all four years I’ve been here, and we couldn’t lose to them again in my senior year.”

After a JoAunn Rivers free throw gave Manual a 77-76 lead, Hawkins had a big blocked shot and Cook was called for an offensive foul.

Gordon followed with a 3-pointer that made it 80-76 with 1:25 left, and the Crimsons never looked back.

“I don’t really have confidence in my jumper, but (coach Just) believes in me more than anybody,” Gordon said. “He tells me to shoot it when I’m open, and I shot it and it went in.”

No. 5 Trinity, No. 10 Ballard, Male and No. 18 Central are the top-rated teams in the Seventh Region, but Manual, St. X, Waggener and Eastern also have proven capable of posting big victories this season.

“I don’t think anybody in the region is at a point where they can play a bad game and still win,” Just said. “That won’t happen.”

GIRLS: Male’s I’Liyah Green didn’t pick up Seventh Region Player of the Year honors from the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches on Friday, and she used that as motivation against Manual.

Green, a University of Cincinnati signee, scored a game-high 20 points as the No. 3 Bulldogs beat the No. 12 Crimsons 55-44.

Green and Male coach Champ Ligon Jr. both praised Manual’s Krys McCune, who picked up the Seventh Region Player of the Year honor. But both said Green and McCune should have been co-Players of the Year, making both eligible for Kentucky’s Miss Basketball award.

“I wanted to prove that I deserved to be in a spot up there – not to replace Krys but that we could have been there together,” Green said. “It really motivated me because I know I’m a really good player and deserved to be there.”

McCune, who has signed with West Virginia, had 12 points and 17 rebounds as No. 12 Manual dropped to 16-7.

The Crimsons struggled all night from the field, missing several open shots near the basket.

“There have been other games we’ve missed some easy ones, and tonight it was magnified,” Sparks said. “It’s Feb 19, so it’s hard to say it’s a throw-out game. The only choice we have is to get better and learn from it.”

Jaela Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers as Manual jumped to a 16-7 lead, but Male took over from there and led 31-26 at halftime.

McCune’s basket with 3:15 left pulled Manual within 42-40, but Male closed the game with a 13-4 run.

“Once we settled down I thought we really played some good defense and hit the boards hard,” Ligon said. “We were fortunate enough to make enough plays to win the game.”