Make Manek manic.

That was Coach Hamilton's gameplan in the Chargers' road rematch with #5 ranked Harrah. After all, it had worked well in the previous meeting when the Panthers' 6'9 OU-bound forward mustered only 13 points.

In the opening period a physical Heritage Hall defense collapsed on Brady Manek, bringing double and triple teams, to blank the Panthers' leading scorer on 0-6 shooting and two turnovers. Jack Griffin and William McDonald both took charges on 2nd fiddle Carlos Slaughter, sending him to the bench at the 5:20 mark. Harrah's first quarter scoring drought only ended when Tyler DeLong ripped a three pointer with 2:30 remaining. Having opened the game on a 13-0 run, the Chargers were equally as impressive on the offensive end of the court. Sayvon Milton and McDonald teamed up for 11 points and the Chargers held a 14-3 lead when the buzzer sounded to end the first period. 

The tide turned in the second quarter as Manek melted the ice to score 10 points, including two three pointers, and the Panthers leveraged a 12-0 run to pull within one at the half. Shooting for the Chargers went ice cold, as Les Thomas had only tallied 1 point on a free throw and Jon Matthews remained scoreless.

Thomas found his stoke early in the third quarter, ripping the nets on his first three point attempt and then bouncing a second trey over the front rim from the left wing. The Charger defense bothered Manek again as his lone three points were earned at the charity stripe after being fouled beyond the arc with just one minute left in the third. The Chargers maintained their narrow lead heading into the fourth quarter with a 35-33 advantage.

On the first Harrah possession Slaughter evened the score, skying for a nice tip-in on a missed shot, but the Senior guard picked up a third charging foul moments later as Will Dunn stood his ground in the paint. The two 4A powerhouse teams were still knotted at 37 all with 3:30 when Matthews found McDonald for a baseline three. McDonald returned the love when he dished to Will Dunn for a fastbreak lay-in that rolled around the rim before dropping. Out of a timeout, the Chargers burned some clock and then McDonald drove the lane and kicked it out to Dunn who splashed his 3rd three, a dagger that stretched the lead to 45-38 with just 1:43 to play. Manek was unable to convert and after Milton grabbed the rebound, Harrah resorted to fouling. The Chargers converted 4-6 free throws down the stretch to close out the Panthers.

Facing The Hall's pressure defense, Harrah's Manek finished with 15 points on just 4-17 shooting, to go with 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. He failed to score in the first quarter and didn't score in the final 7 minutes of the game. Slaughter scored 8 in the game, but was unable to get a flow going due to foul trouble, including three offensive charges.

Milton and McDonald paced the Chargers with 13 points each. If Coach Hamilton gave a Charger Pride hustle award, McDonald would have been the winner. The Sophomore grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, stole a pass, and blocked two shots. Thomas warmed up in the second half to finish with 11 points. Dunn converted 3 of 4 three point shots and scored 11 points off the bench. Matthews and Jack Griffin each scored 2 points to round out Heritage Hall scoring.

Harrah was a tough road opponent, but up next for the Chargers is a grueling trip to Guymon for a Friday showdown with the 5A #19 Tigers (11-7). The Chargers will close out the regular season Tuesday with an away game at Cascia Hall (6-13) before welcoming Bristow (8-13) to the MAC on February 18 at 8pm with the District Championship on the line.