Eckert Shoots Squires To Win Over TV
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
MENTONE - Jeff Brown, former Valley hoops hero and 1997 graduate, was known for writing messages on his game shoes. The most notable being, "Free throws win ballgames."
Free throws do win ballgames. Thursday night was a perfect example.
In the Manchester's 59-52 victory over Valley last night, the Squires' Megan Eckert hit 10 of 12 free throws, including 7 of 7 in the fourth quarter, to put the game out of reach. The Vikings as a team connected on only 8 of 13 free throws in the game.
Eckert led all scorers with 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Manchester's basketball team improved to 7-7 overall and 2-2 in the Three Rivers Conference. Valley fell to 6-7 and 1-2 against conference opponents. Rhonda Doud led the Vikings with 22 points.
"Megan definately did what seniors need to do," said Manchester coach Keri Nichols. "Early on she played the game that was given to her and then she took over."
Valley freshman Tabitha Pratt scored the first points of the game, giving her team a quick 2-0 lead before the two teams battled back and forth in a 14-14 first-quarter stalemate. Eckert pulled down four rebounds and tallied six points in the opening frame.
"We wanted to force it to someone else," said Valley coach Gary Teel. "She (Eckert) got herself open and later in the game we had no choice but to foul her."
Eckert opened the second stanza with a basket that pushed the Squire advantage to 16-14, but Doud scored four in the frame to go with en in the first quarter, and Valley went to the locker rooms with a slim 21-20 lead.
"I thought we did an excellent job in the first half," said Teel. "We held (Jessica) Hicks to four points. In the first half we did a good job on her but our downfall was (Brooke) Fisher and (Jennifer) Studebaker got in foul trouble."
The Vikings and Squires battled to a near stalemate in the third quarter, but Manchester outscored Valley 16-15 to knot things at 36 heading into the final frame.
Studebaker connected on a field goal attempt at the 5:23 mark of the fourth quarter to draw Valley within one at 42-41, but Manchester responded by pulling away to a 50-43 advantage that the Vikings couldn't recover from.
"Our downfall was we got into a bind with fouls," said Teel. "We had some shots that didn't go down, and they put some shots in and hit some free throws. They also had help from some support people like (Jennifer) Jester and (Sherri) Wagoner."
Manchester outscored the Vikings 23-16 in the final frame to account for the seven-point conference victory.
Valley will host TRC rival Oak Hill on Monday with the junior varsity game tipping off at 6:15 p.m.
"We have Oak Hill on Monday," said Teel. "They're another team dominated by two players. They have two people underneath, so our guards have to get in their guards' faces. We have only two days to get back together. I still think this team (Valley) is better than what the record says."
Manchester will host Lewis Cass Thursday with the junior varsity game starting at 6 p.m.
MANCHESTER 59
VALLEY 52
Manchester 14 6 16 23-59
Valley 14 7 15 16-52
Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.
Eckert (F) 8-14 10-12 1 0 10 25
Hicks (F) 6-11 2-2 1 0 3 14
Jester 2-7 2-4 0 3 4 6
Brown 2-4 0-0 0 0 1 5
C. White (C) 2-6 1-2 0 0 3 5
Wagoner (G) 1-4 2-2 0 0 1 4
E. White 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Sell (G) 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Terflinger 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Harms 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 21-47 17-21 2 3 24 59
Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
R. Doud (G) 8-19 4-4 0 0 3 22
Studebaker (C) 6-11 1-2 0 1 10 13
Pratt (G) 3-13 0-0 0 1 3 8
Martin 1-3 3-4 0 0 1 5
Sanders (G) 1-3 0-2 0 1 4 2
Wilcox 1-1 0-0 0 0 3 2
Fisher (F) 0-3 0-1 0 3 6 0
Baker 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Whetstone 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kindig 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Pontious 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
J. Doud 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20-55 8-13 0 6 31 52
Three-point goals - Manchester 2 (Eckert, Brown), Valley 4 (Doud 2, Pratt 2). Turnovers - Manchester 13, Valley 13. Fouls - Manchester 16, Valley 16. Fouled out - Studebaker.
Referees: Tom Davis, Randy Lyons
JV score: Manchester 36, Valley 31 [[In-content Ad]]
MENTONE - Jeff Brown, former Valley hoops hero and 1997 graduate, was known for writing messages on his game shoes. The most notable being, "Free throws win ballgames."
Free throws do win ballgames. Thursday night was a perfect example.
In the Manchester's 59-52 victory over Valley last night, the Squires' Megan Eckert hit 10 of 12 free throws, including 7 of 7 in the fourth quarter, to put the game out of reach. The Vikings as a team connected on only 8 of 13 free throws in the game.
Eckert led all scorers with 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Manchester's basketball team improved to 7-7 overall and 2-2 in the Three Rivers Conference. Valley fell to 6-7 and 1-2 against conference opponents. Rhonda Doud led the Vikings with 22 points.
"Megan definately did what seniors need to do," said Manchester coach Keri Nichols. "Early on she played the game that was given to her and then she took over."
Valley freshman Tabitha Pratt scored the first points of the game, giving her team a quick 2-0 lead before the two teams battled back and forth in a 14-14 first-quarter stalemate. Eckert pulled down four rebounds and tallied six points in the opening frame.
"We wanted to force it to someone else," said Valley coach Gary Teel. "She (Eckert) got herself open and later in the game we had no choice but to foul her."
Eckert opened the second stanza with a basket that pushed the Squire advantage to 16-14, but Doud scored four in the frame to go with en in the first quarter, and Valley went to the locker rooms with a slim 21-20 lead.
"I thought we did an excellent job in the first half," said Teel. "We held (Jessica) Hicks to four points. In the first half we did a good job on her but our downfall was (Brooke) Fisher and (Jennifer) Studebaker got in foul trouble."
The Vikings and Squires battled to a near stalemate in the third quarter, but Manchester outscored Valley 16-15 to knot things at 36 heading into the final frame.
Studebaker connected on a field goal attempt at the 5:23 mark of the fourth quarter to draw Valley within one at 42-41, but Manchester responded by pulling away to a 50-43 advantage that the Vikings couldn't recover from.
"Our downfall was we got into a bind with fouls," said Teel. "We had some shots that didn't go down, and they put some shots in and hit some free throws. They also had help from some support people like (Jennifer) Jester and (Sherri) Wagoner."
Manchester outscored the Vikings 23-16 in the final frame to account for the seven-point conference victory.
Valley will host TRC rival Oak Hill on Monday with the junior varsity game tipping off at 6:15 p.m.
"We have Oak Hill on Monday," said Teel. "They're another team dominated by two players. They have two people underneath, so our guards have to get in their guards' faces. We have only two days to get back together. I still think this team (Valley) is better than what the record says."
Manchester will host Lewis Cass Thursday with the junior varsity game starting at 6 p.m.
MANCHESTER 59
VALLEY 52
Manchester 14 6 16 23-59
Valley 14 7 15 16-52
Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.
Eckert (F) 8-14 10-12 1 0 10 25
Hicks (F) 6-11 2-2 1 0 3 14
Jester 2-7 2-4 0 3 4 6
Brown 2-4 0-0 0 0 1 5
C. White (C) 2-6 1-2 0 0 3 5
Wagoner (G) 1-4 2-2 0 0 1 4
E. White 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Sell (G) 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Terflinger 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Harms 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 21-47 17-21 2 3 24 59
Valley FG FT A S R Pts.
R. Doud (G) 8-19 4-4 0 0 3 22
Studebaker (C) 6-11 1-2 0 1 10 13
Pratt (G) 3-13 0-0 0 1 3 8
Martin 1-3 3-4 0 0 1 5
Sanders (G) 1-3 0-2 0 1 4 2
Wilcox 1-1 0-0 0 0 3 2
Fisher (F) 0-3 0-1 0 3 6 0
Baker 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Whetstone 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Kindig 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Pontious 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
J. Doud 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20-55 8-13 0 6 31 52
Three-point goals - Manchester 2 (Eckert, Brown), Valley 4 (Doud 2, Pratt 2). Turnovers - Manchester 13, Valley 13. Fouls - Manchester 16, Valley 16. Fouled out - Studebaker.
Referees: Tom Davis, Randy Lyons
JV score: Manchester 36, Valley 31 [[In-content Ad]]