Behind 15-point efforts from sophomore Gigi McAtee and senior Caroline Ballard Saturday night, the Manhattan High girls basketball team earned its second-consecutive trip to the Kansas 6A State tournament. The Lady Indians routed Topeka High 62-40 and grabbed 32 rebounds in the process, an aspect Ballard explained was a focus of Manhattan’s entering the contest.

“We knew we could offensive rebound against [Topeka High],” Ballard said. “We really attacked hard.”

Despite the 22-point win, head coach Scott Mall said that the scoreboard didn’t reflect the game’s feel.

“For a game that ended up with that kind of a point spread, it never felt easy at all,” Mall said. “We had to keep working hard on both ends of the court and the girls stuck with it and stuck with it and stuck with it. [We] hit some big shots… In the first half, [we] made some big defensive plays that really helped throughout the game.”

Mall explained that defending T-High’s Adrianna Henderson, who finished with 23 points, was an area of focus for his team.

“[Henderson] is so good,” Mall said. “She’s so good at getting penetration and she hit some outside shots tonight. We made some mistakes early in trying to reach for the ball instead of just trying to get position and get her stopped, but it’s hard because she does so many things that you don’t see.”

Manhattan took an 18-11 lead after the first frame, and Ballard said that the early success contributed to the outcome.

“We were moving the ball well [early],” Ballard said. “We had played against their zone before; we knew where the openings were, and I feel like we did a good job getting the ball there.”

Manhattan opened the second period on a 6-0 run with contributions from three different Lady Indians. MHS outscored the Trojans 15-12 in the quarter, with aid from five more points from Ballard, and took a 33-23 lead into intermission.

Manhattan tallied three more points than Topeka High in the third, but T-High trimmed the lead to seven midway through the quarter. Mall explained that his team’s offense was to thank after the Lady Indians later regained a double-digit lead following the 4-1 Topeka High run.

“It was tough,” Mall said. “It made it really tense in there because [T-High was] on a nice run and we got some good looks and didn’t get the ball in the basket. But then we got a couple of stops on the defensive end. And then offensively we hit some big shots, especially some big outside shots.”

Manhattan led 48-36 heading into the final frame.

The Lady Indians allowed Topeka High just four points in the fourth quarter, and McAtee tallied eight points in the fourth alone. Overall, Manhattan shot 9-for-18 from beyond the arc, an aspect McAtee explained contributed to the win.

“I think we just started hitting shots,” McAtee said. “And when it wasn’t working inside we kicked out, and they got us the ball.”

The State tournament begins this Thursday at Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan. and wraps up Saturday. No. 5 Manhattan will take on No. 4 Shawnee Mission Northwest, while game time has yet to be determined.