Quick Start Leads Squires Over Valley
January 30, 2021 at 4:45 a.m.
Quick Start Leads Squires Over Valley
By Dale [email protected]
Scoring early and often, the Squires built a 21-6 lead in the first quarter and rode that momentum to a 70-45 win over their guests.
Henson, who left fellow TRC school Whitko for the Manchester job, said his team’s play in the first quarter was what did the trick Friday night.
“That was the key,” said Henson. “We haven’t been playing well lately in the first quarter.
“Teams have been playing a 2-3 zone against us because we’ve been struggling with our outside shooting. The good thing is we had a whole week to prepare, so we put in a lot of different things to just kind of free up some guys, and they stepped up and hit some shots.”
Manchester made 50 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half, compared to Valley’s 33 percent.
The Squires, now 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference, made seven treys in the 25-point win and were 15 of 16 at the free throw line,
Senior Weston Hamby led Manchester with a game-high 21 points, while classmate Max Carter added 19 points and sophomore Maddox Zolman chipped in with 13 points.
“I knew we would struggle to stop them man-to-man, so we worked on zone all week, and boy our zone was just flat,” said Valley coach Chad Patrick, whose team fell to 2-11 overall and 0-6 in league play.
“We didn’t talk, we didn’t work. As I told the guys, you can’t give up 70 points and expect to win. Our team that won the sectional two years ago was really good defensively. These guys just haven’t bought into that team defense, helping each other and talking.
“And quite honestly, at times, they just don’t play very hard. Defense is all heart. And we just don’t do that very well … we’ve gotta figure that out.”
Manchester led 21-10 after one quarter of play, 35-24 at halftime and 47-33 heading into the final frame.
A bucket by 6-foot-7 junior Dawson Perkins cut Manchester’s lead to nine, 37-28, with 6:16 left in the third quarter.
After Perkins flexed his muscle down low in the second quarter, scoring 11 of his 13 first-half points in the second stanza, it looked like the Vikings had some momentum.
It went away, however, as Manchester scored the next six points and continued to grow its lead.
Perkins led Valley with 17 points, while senior Chase Miller scored eight points and sophomore Brendyn Stump seven.
“In the second half Perkins scored six straight points, we got it down to nine, and the next three possessions he didn’t touch the ball,” said Patrick.
“I don’t know if that’s kids being selfish, or not playing smart, but it’s one of the two, and neither one is a good result. We were down nine, and then down 15 just like that. You gotta be smart enough to recognize when a guy has a hot hand, at least get it in to him, and then you get inside-outside threes.”
Valley won the JV game 46-37.
The Vikings are in action again today at 1 p.m. in a varsity-only affair with Winamac.
Manchester plays today at Fort Wayne Concordia as the Squires look for their eighth win in nine tries after an 0-3 start to the season.
Latest News
E-Editions
Scoring early and often, the Squires built a 21-6 lead in the first quarter and rode that momentum to a 70-45 win over their guests.
Henson, who left fellow TRC school Whitko for the Manchester job, said his team’s play in the first quarter was what did the trick Friday night.
“That was the key,” said Henson. “We haven’t been playing well lately in the first quarter.
“Teams have been playing a 2-3 zone against us because we’ve been struggling with our outside shooting. The good thing is we had a whole week to prepare, so we put in a lot of different things to just kind of free up some guys, and they stepped up and hit some shots.”
Manchester made 50 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half, compared to Valley’s 33 percent.
The Squires, now 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference, made seven treys in the 25-point win and were 15 of 16 at the free throw line,
Senior Weston Hamby led Manchester with a game-high 21 points, while classmate Max Carter added 19 points and sophomore Maddox Zolman chipped in with 13 points.
“I knew we would struggle to stop them man-to-man, so we worked on zone all week, and boy our zone was just flat,” said Valley coach Chad Patrick, whose team fell to 2-11 overall and 0-6 in league play.
“We didn’t talk, we didn’t work. As I told the guys, you can’t give up 70 points and expect to win. Our team that won the sectional two years ago was really good defensively. These guys just haven’t bought into that team defense, helping each other and talking.
“And quite honestly, at times, they just don’t play very hard. Defense is all heart. And we just don’t do that very well … we’ve gotta figure that out.”
Manchester led 21-10 after one quarter of play, 35-24 at halftime and 47-33 heading into the final frame.
A bucket by 6-foot-7 junior Dawson Perkins cut Manchester’s lead to nine, 37-28, with 6:16 left in the third quarter.
After Perkins flexed his muscle down low in the second quarter, scoring 11 of his 13 first-half points in the second stanza, it looked like the Vikings had some momentum.
It went away, however, as Manchester scored the next six points and continued to grow its lead.
Perkins led Valley with 17 points, while senior Chase Miller scored eight points and sophomore Brendyn Stump seven.
“In the second half Perkins scored six straight points, we got it down to nine, and the next three possessions he didn’t touch the ball,” said Patrick.
“I don’t know if that’s kids being selfish, or not playing smart, but it’s one of the two, and neither one is a good result. We were down nine, and then down 15 just like that. You gotta be smart enough to recognize when a guy has a hot hand, at least get it in to him, and then you get inside-outside threes.”
Valley won the JV game 46-37.
The Vikings are in action again today at 1 p.m. in a varsity-only affair with Winamac.
Manchester plays today at Fort Wayne Concordia as the Squires look for their eighth win in nine tries after an 0-3 start to the season.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092