A year after a disappointing loss to Eastern in the regional semifinals, the Manual High School girls basketball team got revenge in a big way.
Jaela Johnson had 21 points and four steals and Tonysha Curry pitched in 17 points and seven rebounds as the Crimsons whipped Eastern 68-37 on Wednesday in a semifinal of the Class Act Federal Credit Union Seventh Region Tournament at Valley.
Eastern defeated Manual 41-36 in last year’s regional semifinals.
“I thought last year we were tight and afraid of the moment,” Manual coach Jeff Sparks said. “Tonight we came in and played loose. That’s what will give you your best opportunity to win.”
Manual (20-7) – No. 10 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings – shot 48.1 percent and won the rebounding battle 49-29 to advance to Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. regional final against No. 3 Male.
Mikayla Kinnard had 14 points and six rebounds to lead No. 7 Eastern (21-7). The Eagles shot just 23.6 percent (13 of 55) as starting guards Bri Mishler, Shavia Thompson and Natalie Collins combined to go 3 of 33 from the field, including 2 of 23 from 3-point range.
“Their zone extended us a little bit, but we were 1 for 14 (from 3) in the first half and most of them weren’t bad shots and weren’t by off people,” Eastern coach Josh Leslie said. “We just couldn’t make a shot. And then if you can’t score you can’t get into the other stuff you do (defensively).”
Manual closed the first half with a 15-1 run to take control. Johnson scored six points during the surge, including two free throws that gave the Crimsons a 31-15 halftime lead.
Curry’s layup pushed the lead to 20, 41-21, with 4:18 left in the third quarter and Manual never looked back.
Now it’s on to a meeting with rival Male, which defeated Manual 55-44 on Feb. 19.
“We’ll go back and watch film and fix what we need to fix and get the win,” Johnson said.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
EASTERN 11 4 11 11 – 37
MANUAL 12 19 17 20 – 68
Eastern (21-7) – Porter 5, Mishler 2, Anthony 2, Thompson 2, Kinnard 14, Smith 2, Beach 2, Collins 6, Pearl 2.
Manual (20-7) – A. Ballard 9, Howard 2, Curry 17, McBride 2, Johnson 21, Brown 3, Blackford 2, McCune 12.
3-point goals – Collins 2; A. Ballard, Curry 2, Johnson.