Athlete of the Week: John Manning

John Manning didn't have a huge offensive game last week against Centreville. He left that to fellow big man Jake Weigand.

What Manning did do was dominate the game on the defensive end, blocking 12 shots as the Chargers beat the Wildcats, 55-47.

His efforts earned him Chantilly Patch's Athlete of the Week.

“John controls the game at the defensive end,” Wildcats coach Drew Murphy said. “I’m just really happy with the shots we got. I mean, what are you going to do?”

Centreville forward Cam Owens had a great game, scoring 21 points, but Manning continually frustrated the Centreville guards when they penetrated the lane.

“They made a good run, but we were able to pull it out,” Manning said. “We played really well as a team at the end. We have to use this as motivation to work a little harder in practice. We can’t have teams making these kinds of runs at the ends of games.”

Manning and the No. 2 Chargers return to action Tuesday at Westfield.