When the Manor Mustangs were warming up for Friday's game against Rudder, the gym rattled and the county fell under a tornado warning. When the Mustangs left the gym with a 66-56 victory, they walked out to a perfectly calm night.

"They've got a better team than we do," Rudder head coach Daryl Mason said.

The Mustangs outplayed and outshot the Rangers in what began as a fast-paced game before Manor calmed it down for a 10-point win.

The loss sets Rudder back to an 8-5 record in District 16-4A and 19-11 overall. Manor improved to 17-8 and 12-2 in district to maintain a tie with Elgin for the district lead while Rudder sits at third.

"Their pressure hurt us early," Mason said. "They got a comfortable lead and at times we cut into it but they kept that cushion. They've got good players and I really think player-for-player they are the best team in the district."

Rudder led for just minutes in the lightning-quick first half but trailed 16-13 as the buzzer sounded. When Manor got up and down the court quickly to start the second quarter, taking a 21-13 lead, Mason quickly called a timeout.

"At times we play well in a fast-paced game, but at times we don't," Mason said. "The first half they put some pressure on us in the full court and three quarter court to try and speed us up and we didn't handle it well."

Rudder trailed by eight at halftime and could not contend with Manor until the fourth quarter when Jonas Suber and Will Martin hit consecutive 3-pointers to bring what was a 13-point lead to a seven point game.

"When we cut into the lead a couple times it was because we played fast," Mason said.

The quick tempo created a Mustang turnover and Martin hit another 3-point shot to bring the game within four points at 58-54. But with no inside presence, the Rangers were forced to make every shot from around the 3-point line, despite Martin hitting four 3-pointers in the quarter.

The lack of inside scoring hurt the Rangers as they were unable to continue their hot streak in the waning minutes. Demarshon Wilson, the only real threat inside for the Rangers, finished with 11 points while Martin led the team with 25.

"It was definitely a problem in this game," Mason said. "Here lately we have been able to get the ball inside but tonight it definitely hurt us. I feel like we settled for outside shots and weren't making an effort to get it inside to get more high percentage shots."

Mason could only tell his team to continue working as he talked to them after the game.

"I just told them to keep their head up and we'll get after it Monday," Mason said. "We'll just take it one game at a time. Cedar Ridge on Tuesday and it'll be a tough game. We'll go down there and try to steal one."

With just three games remaining the Rangers are fighting for a spot to make the their third consecutive playoff appearance. The top four teams in district make playoffs.

Rudder will battle for that playoff spot as they travel to Cedar Ridge at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Manor 66, Rudder 56

MANOR (17-8, 12-2) -- Tyler Johnson 2 3 10-14 1 23, Jacorey McQueen 4 0 1-5 2 10, Tyler Ellis 1 1 4-4 3 9, Statron Jones 1 2 0-0 0 8, Ladarius Carlock 2 0 1-2 3 5, Michael Hargis 2 0 0-0 2 4, Avery Mack 0 1 0-0 4 3, Chris Johnson 1 0 0-0 0 2, Rodney Molette 1 0 0-0 0 2.

RUDDER (19-11, 8-5) -- Will Martin 2 5 6-9 1 25, Demarshon Wilson 3 0 5-8 2 11, Jonas Suber 3 1 0-0 2 9, Justin Johnson 2 0 2-3 1 6, De'Andre Harris 1 0 0-0 1 2, A'Shanian Smith 1 0 0-0 5 2, Johnathan Shirley 0 0 1-2 1 1.

Manor 16 17 11 22 -- 66

Rudder 13 12 14 17 -- 56

Next: Rudder at Cedar Ridge, 7 p.m. Tuesday.

JV: Manor 52, Rudder 43. RUDDER (13-10, 8-5) -- Robert Lee 12.

Freshmen: Manor 67, Rudder 44. RUDDER (5-14, 4-9) -- Brandon Sandle 12, Keegan Garner 11.