The New Manchester basketball teams split a pair of games at McIntosh Saturday evening. The boys scored early and often and then held on late for a 48-40 victory. The girls once again struggled, falling 63-17.

The Jaguar boys jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first period of their game. after a 17-14 second period, they held a 30-18 lead at the half.

“We did a good job guarding and rebounding in the first half,” said NMHS coach David Cottrell. “That allowed us to get some easy ones in early.”

McIntosh came on strong in the second half, outscoring New Manchester 8-7 and 14-11 but could not take the lead.

“They played us in zone the entire game and we did our best to attack it,” Cottrell said. “We spent a lot of time being patient, making the extra pass, and taking good shots.”

“They made a push in the fourth period and we will need to clean our play up when we have a lead late,” Cottrell added. “We need to work on running the clock down and taking better shots late.”

Ryan Edwards led the Jags with 18 points.

“He found the open spots in the zone, had good ball movement, and was able to get him some easy shots,” Cottrell said.

Edwards had a big fourth period, scoring seven points, including going 3-for-3 from the line.

Tyler Edwards scored nine points on the evening for New Manchester.

GIRLS GAME

The Lady Jaguars fell to McIntosh 63-17, capping off a very rough week. New Manchester trailed 19-2 after the first period, 36-8 at halftime, and 56-11 after three.

“We gave up a lot of open shots, did not rebound well, and they made many shots in transition,” said NMHS head coach Josh Martin. “We didn’t really do anything well.”

Despite the loss, Martin knows there is only one thing that will get the team out of the slump they are currently in.

“There is no substitution for hard work,” he said. “It’s not going to get better by itself.

Martin also believes that the team’s youth will help them rebound from the recently losses.

“They are young and are learning from this experience,” he said. “We have a bunch of ninth and 10th graders and they are building character that will lead to success on the court and in life.”

The Jags and Lady Jags will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Allatoona. Games will kick off at 6 p.m.