Chargers blitz Indians

G I R L S B A S K E T B A L L

--- Chris Ochsner/The Capital-Journal

By KEN CLARK

The Capital-Journal

If Topeka West coach Mike Goehring could add another item to his Christmas wish list, it would be that his veteran basketball team play consistently on the both ends of the court for the entire game.

However, even without the consistency Goehring would hope for, his gifted Chargers went into the Christmas break posting an impressive 59-49 win over Manhattan Thursday night on their home court.

The Chargers took the lead early and never looked back, controlling the game at the intermission, 34-18. Their defensive effort in the first half dug a hole that the Indians couldn't climb out of.

"The girls came out focused," Goehring said. "Their goal was go up 2-0 in the league at the break, which we've done. But we still have a ways to go. We have a lot of things to improve upon.

"Defensive play makes our team go. If we don't play the tough D, we can't get our offense moving and we can't get our running game going. We did it in the first half,but we only did it in spurts in the second half."

The Indians managed to whittle away at the score in the second half, but could get no closer than 10 points of West.

"We weren't prepared enough for the tempo or the physical kind of game West was playing in the first half," said Manhattan coach Scott Mall. "Their quickness on the outside really hurt us."

Manhattan 6 18 32 49Topeka West 19 34 49 59 Manhattan (3-2) --- Kennedy 4 0-2 8, Ingram 3 1-2 7, Lingquist 3 1-4 7, Hammel 2 3-3 7, Kuhn1 3-4 5, Schwandt 2 0-0 4, Carpenter 2 0-0 4, Martiniz 1 0-0 3, Degenhardt 1 0-0 2.

Topeka West (4-1) --- Scales 7 2-3 17, Mohlander 5 0-0 10, Huggins 4 2-5 10, Bahner 3 3-5 9, Gleason 3 0-0 6, Manns 1 0-0 2, Davis 1 0- 0 2.

Three point goals --- Manhattan --- Martinez 1: Topeka West --- Scales 1. Fouls --- Manhattan --- Ingram 2, Degenhardt 4, Kennedy 3, Kuhn 2, Schwandt 2, Carpenter 1: Topeka West --- Huggins 4, Bahner 1, Scales 2, Swanson 2, Manns 3, Gleason 1, Mohlander 1.

Junior Varsity final score --- Manhattan 38, Topeka West 47

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