Manley’s make: Senior hits jumper with time running out to send JHS to region tourney

Phil Manley hit the biggest jumper of the season for the Jamestown High School boys basketball team during the play-in game on Friday night in Belcourt.

With his team trailing by one, the 6-2 senior forward picked up a loose ball with time running out and drilled a 15-footer to send the Blue Jays past Turtle Mountain 67-66 and into the West Region tournament, which starts Thursday.

Jamestown (3-17), seeded ninth, plays top-seeded and third-ranked Bismarck St. Mary’s (16-2) in the first game of the day, set for 3 p.m. on the main floor.

Jamestown and Turtle Mountain went back and forth late in the game after both teams had rallied. Logan Anderson and David Hanson combined for five straight points to give Jamestown a 63-60 advantage with 2 minutes to go, but Kolton Keplin and Jonathon Parisien followed with scores that gave Belcourt a 64-63 lead.

The Blue Jays’ Alex McInnes hit off the glass to put his team back up by one with 1:05 to go. But Jalen Jeanotte hit what may have looked like the game-winner with 22 seconds to go, when he scored and was fouled. He missed the ensuing free throw, costing the Braves a two-point lead.

Jamestown put the ball in the hands of McInnes, who tried to find a lane but lost the ball. A scramble ensued and Manley was the first one to pick it up, calmly sinking the ball and Turtle Mountain’s hopes in one fell swoop.

Hanson, Anderson and McInnes did most of the legwork on the offensive end. Hanson finished with 16 points while Anderson had 14 and McInnes 12.

Keplin and Jeanotte each had 16 for Turtle Mountain, which got its only Class A win of the season when it came to Jamestown earlier this season and beat the Blue Jays.

It looked like Jamestown was pulling away in the first half, as Hanson went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to put the Blue Jays up 35-28 with 2:30 to go. However, Jeanotte scored three times and a free throw from Keplin tied the game right before halftime.

There was still enough for Hanson to hit from the corner, though, drilling a 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining to give Jamestown a 38-35 halftime lead.

Jamestown 67, Turtle Mountain 66

Jamestown 38 67

Turtle Mountain 35 55

NOTE: Scoring incomplete.

Jamestown: David Hanson 16, Logan Anderson 14, Alex McInnes 12, Phil Manley 5, Tyler Ukestad 5, Ashton Johnson 3, Austin Remmick 3, Marc Wagner 2, Nick Fuchs 1, Lucas Keller 1.

Turtle Mountain: Kolton Keplin 16, Jalen Jeanotte 16, Jonathon Parisien 9, Jordan Davis 6, Nathan Martin 6, Trae Blue 3, Lane Day 3, Tiray Azure 3.

Tags: sports, jays, basketball