MANCHESTER, N.H. – COVID-19 has created some high school sports regular season mismatches that wouldn’t be found during normal times and that showed on Friday night as Division I Manchester Central easily defeated Division II Manchester West, 63-51.
Six three-pointers in the first half propelled Central to a 34-19 lead by the half, with the Little Green increasing the margin to 20 points by the end of the third quarter.
West suited up only seven players, adding to the odds they faced and earning kudos from Central Head Coach Sudi Lett.
“They did an outstanding job, all the kids played hard,” said Lett. “I know many of the kids’ in West’s program, they’re the definition of athletes. It’s tough to win any game with seven guys, but they played well despite that.”
The Blue Knights also fought off fatigue, fresh off a 62-51 upset against Sanborn a night earlier, but West Head Coach John Langlois mirrored Lett in praising his squad’s opponents.
“They muscled us early, we came in knowing they were a good shooting team and we could hit the ocean,” said Langlois. “That was the difference they just jumped on us. We tried to come back and we never quit, which was good, but in the end, it was a good night for them and not for us.”
Aiden Scott-Beaulac led the Blue Knights with 15 points while Rashawn Prescott followed with 11, including seven completed free throws in the fourth quarter.
Andrew Houghton was Central’s top scorer with 12, with Baril Mawo close behind with 10 points on the night.
West will be forced to try and punch against its weight again over the next few days with a homestand against Memorial (Feb. 8), Central again (Feb. 11), and Goffstown (Feb. 15).
Central will host Bedford on Monday with a trip to Bedford a day after their rematch against West.
