Basketball’s Best
The Oklahoman has named its Little All-City girls basketball team. Cashion’s Sydney Manning is the Little All-City Player of the Year while Tuttle head coach Brian Lester is the Little All-City Coach of the Year.
CASHION — Sydney Manning expected to be more upset.
As Christian Heritage Academy celebrated its state championship last month, Manning was hurt but content.
“From where I was happiness-wise last year to where I am this year it didn’t hurt as much because it’s just a game and in the end I’m celebrating it with my friends,” Manning said. And she meant it.
In her lone season at Cashion High School, Manning found herself.
On the court, she became a complete player, averaging 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds while leading the Wildcats to a Class 2A state runner-up finish. She is The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Player of the Year.
“I felt this feeling from her that she just felt like she was playing with ease,” Cashion coach and Sydney’s mom Totsy Manning said.
There could have been pressure, though.
Manning, who has signed with Missouri State, had starred at Deer Creek for three seasons, winning a title as a freshman and leading the Antlers to a state runner-up finish as a junior.
Going from 400 classmates to 30 was nervewracking, too. But she was quickly embraced.
“I think it took so long for me to get past the whole coach’s kid thing when I was an underclassman that when I came here I was expecting to see it again, but I really didn’t,” Manning said. “The town, I think that they knew what me and my mom had accomplished. They set the expectations high because they knew what we were capable of.”
Teamed with fellow senior Presley Payahsape, Manning instantly made Cashion a title contender. It lost only to powerhouses Harrah and Seiling during the regular season.
Manning was still arguably the best player on the floor. She scored a career-high 41 points in a win over Oklahoma Bible Academy.
She found balance, adjusting well to the different style of play in small-school basketball.
“They expected the drive a lot more in 6A, so I would shoot the ball,” Manning said. “This year, people were used to guarding shooters, so you had to get to the rim more. I think my midrange game improved a lot because of the types of people defending me.”
And off the court she flourished. Totsy said Sydney’s happiness showed in the classroom.
Now, Manning is ready to head to Missouri State knowing that she had a better senior season than she ever expected.
“The relationships I built this year are much stronger than the relationships I would have built, because you’re always with the same people, you do everything together and I think that’s something special,” Manning said. “These people had already had their friendship groups and they just took me in.
“I’m lucky to have them.”