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#1 ranked Manual defeats #9 ranked Sacred Heart by a final of 79-49 at Sacred Heart.

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Basketball: Manual girls have message for region, beat Sacred Heart 79-49
from Courier Journal

Manual and Sacred Heart both went into Wednesday night’s showdown unbeaten against Seventh Region opponents, but the Lady Crimsons proved there’s a big gap between them and the Valkyries.

With reserve Destony Curry scoring 16 points the visiting Lady Crimsons — who are No. 1 in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings — spanked No. 9 Sacred Heart 79-49 for their 10th consecutive victory and 25th in 27 games. Manual is now 12-0 against regional foes.

“This was a huge win,” said Manual senior guard April Wilson, who scored 14 points. “Well, not a huge win, but they’re in our region and we wanted to send a message to our region. We just came out and did what we had to do.”

Sacred Heart (14-10), second in the region in the Litratings, got 17 points apiece from sophomores Raven Merriweather and DaiJia Ruffin but fell to 7-1 in regional play.

Manual’s aggressive defense came up with 16 steals and forced 24 turnovers, but coach Stacy Pendleton wasn’t gloating over the win.

“I’m not sure this game is a good predictor of how the regional game would go,” he said. “I liked the fact that we came in here on their floor and played as well as we did. Coach (Donna) Moir is a great coach, and I’m sure she will make some adjustments if we meet in the regional. We’ll have to adjust, too.”

Asked if she’ll make changes before playing Manual again, Moir said, “I don’t know what I’ll do, but we’ll do something different. They are as good a any team we’ve played all year. They are real quick to the ball, and they jump in passing lanes. We made 11 turnovers in the first quarter, and they were getting layups off them.”

Wilson was not surprised by the play of subs Curry and Mitchell.

“Destony is one of our hardest workers,” Wilson said. “She’s not a starter, but she comes into the game and gets it done. Mitchell gives us a post presence.’

Wilson, who missed last year’s state tournament because of an injury (Manual was runner-up to Rockcastle County), said her team isn’t “underestimating any team” in the region, adding “We want to be ready every game.”

Manual 21 22 15 21 - 79
Sacred Heart 10 18 7 14 - 49

Manual (25-2) - Wilson 14, Styles 8, Bodine 5, L. Wright 12, K. Wright 5, D. Curry 16, Allen 5, Mitchell 10, Davis-Kent 2, Long.

SacredHeart (14-11) - Merriweather 17, Ruffin 17, Matula 7, Tubb 3, Halbleib 3, Stough 1, Samsel 1

3-point goals - Bodine, Mitchell, Allen, Tubb, Matula, Ruffin

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Manual Beats SHA In 7th Region Showdown
Chris Jung - Senior Writer
Louisville Catholic Sports: http://catholicsportsnet.com/louisville/...al-matchup
Valkyries struggle from the floor in loss to top ranked Crimsons

In a battle of two teams considered to be favorites for the high school girls basketball 7th Region Championship, it was the state's No. 1 ranked DuPont Manual that gained the initial psychological advantage with a 79-49 victory over Sacred Heart Academy on Wednesday night.

Manual, which is also ranked No. 31 in the ESPN High School national rankings, shot 31-of-60 (51.7 percent) from the field as a unit and had three players score at least 12 points during the Lady Crimsons' 30-point win on the road over the Valkyries.

SHA shot just 15-of-53 (28 percent) for the game and found itself down 43-28 by halftime.

Manual junior Destony Curry, who hit a clutch shot during the Lady Crimsons' win over Sacred Heart in the 2011 LIT semifinals, came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. She also had five steals, four rebounds and four assists in just under 16 minutes of action.

"They're a good team," said Sacred Heart head coach Donna Moir. "They're as good as any team we've played this year."

The Valkyries were led by the sophomore duo of DaiJia Ruffin and Raven Merriweather. Of the 49 points scored by SHA, Ruffin/Merriweather combined for 34 of them on a combined 10-of-35 from the floor. Ruffin also pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds and was by far the most aggressive Sacred Heart player in terms of driving to the basket and staying active on the boards.

The Ruffin-Merriweather pairing also attempted 16 of Sacred Heart's 24 free throws, making 13 of them from the charity stripe.

"She battles and has such great hands, and she's real quick," said Moir of Ruffin. "I think every day I'm learning more and more what she can do and what Raven (Merriweather) can do. They're fun to coach."

Manual (25-2) appeared to cool off a bit to start the second half and gave the Valkyries an opening to try and cut into the 15-point deficit, but Sacred Heart was unable to take advantage and only managed seven points in the third quarter.

"I thought we looked like we could step in there and get a couple baskets (to get it closer)," said Moir. "We got the ball where we wanted and got some good shots, but we just didn't make them."

Back-to-back layups by Manual senior Leasia Wright gave the Lady Crimsons its largest lead to that point, a 51-30 advantage, with 2:40 to go in the third period. Manual never trailed by less than 26 points for the remainder of the game, picked up its 10 straight "W" and scored 75 points or more in a game for the 12th time this season.

Lady Crimsons senior April Wilson (14), Wright (12) and sophomore forward Tabitha Mitchell (10) were the other the high scorers for their squad. The duo also finished 8-of-10 from the free throw line and had a combined 5 of Manual's 16 steals. Junior Kayla Styles also chipped in 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Sacred Heart turned the ball over 24 times which led to 28 Manual points. Valkyries junior Kristin Matula has 7 points and 2 steals in the loss.

When asked whether Sacred Heart and Manual could meet again in a few weeks in the regional tournament, Moir said it was a possibility and pointed to five specific teams that the 7th Region will likely be won by.

"The (7th Region) Championship's going to come down to Manual, Sacred Heart, Assumption, Christian Academy or Ballard," said Moir. "I think Manual is a little bit above everybody, and then after that everyone else is going to be battling."

Sacred Heart (14-11) has a matchup against one of those potential contenders on Friday, as Moir and Co. host Christian Academy of Louisville (17-10) on Friday at 7:30pm.

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