Manchester boys gets rolling against Harris County, remain undefeated

The Manchester Blue Devils got off to a slow start at Harris County on Saturday night. By the second quarter, however, the Blue Devils were right back on track.

Harris County opened with an impressive 10-3 start to the game before the Blue Devils got things going in the closing minutes of the first quarter. Manchester one-upped itself in the second quarter, going on a 31-7 run that set the tone in a 82-61 victory.

Manchester had to sweat it out early, but the latest victory pushed the Blue Devils’ record this season to 21-0. In head coach Anzy Hardman’s mind, the in-game turnaround all began with the Blue Devils’ defense.

“Defense is what makes us click. When our pressure kicks in, we feel like we have a good chance to hang in there,” Hardman said. “They had a good game plan because they were taking it to the basket. Once we got our defense going and everybody got sweaty, we did pretty well.”

The biggest problem for Harris County was when the Tigers slowed one Blue Devil down, another stepped up.

Kalil Brawner tormented the Tigers again and again to the tune of 19 points in the win. Jah’Nile Hill, who recently set the school record for points in a career, did his part to orchestrate the offense, scoring 16 points in the process. Perhaps most important was Jerquavion Mahone, who registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, adding four assists to boot.

In all, six Manchester players finished with double-digit points. The effectiveness of so many Blue Devils is what Hardman pointed out as being a key component in the team’s undefeated run.

“We try to at least play eight or nine guys,” Hardman said. “We feel like if we can get eight guys in the rotation, we have a good chance because of our style of play.”

The Blue Devils have been incredibly impressive in Hardman’s return to the team, but the veteran head coach is the first to say the team hasn’t accomplished anything yet. Saturday’s win showed Manchester could overcome potentially derailing starts, but for Hardman, it also made it clear more work is needed.

“(The key to keeping it up is) getting our tails in shape and playing some defense,” Hardman said. “If we can continue to to play aggressive — good defense without fouling — then we have a decent shot.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Manchester boys gets rolling against Harris County, remain undefeated."