Goshert, Squires Get Win Over Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - Though class sports took the David vs. Goliath matchup out of the state tournament, chalk up a win for the little guy in Saturday's regular season boys basketball clash between Manchester and Wawasee.
Behind 11 fourth-quarter points from senior Joe Egner and a boost off the bench from freshman Dan Bourne, host Manchester, a school of less than 600 students, upended Class 3A No. 9 Wawasee, a school nearly twice in size, 54-46.
For ninth-year Manchester coach Gary Goshert, not only was the 275th of his career, but also a win that put an extra-wide smile on his face, given the fact that his Squires not only beat the school he coached at for a decade, but that they beat them while the Warriors are as talented as they are.
"For me it is," said Goshert when asked if the win was any more special because it was over Wawasee, where he is the program's all time winningest coach, much like he is at Manchester. "We talked about how talented Wawasee is, and that we were in a situation where we weren't supposed to win. We talked about being the small school playing the big school, the small-school conference, the TRC (Three Rivers Conference), playing the big-school conference, the NLC (Northern Lakes Conference). We wanted to go in with that type of attitude and we did. This is pretty exciting."
The win was the fifth in a row for Manchester, which started the season 2-6 but now has things rolling with a 7-6 record. Wawasee, which started the season 8-0, has lost two of its last three games and is now 9-2 on the season.
"I'm happy to see things falling into place," said Goshert.
For Wawasee, it was a fall Thursday night in practice the Warrior coaching staff and players didn't want to see.
Senior guard Austin Kaiser, the team's leading scorer and all-around spark plug, dove for a loose ball in practice, and while doing so, made contact with a teammate and broke two bones in his hand.
He didn't play in Friday's win at Elkhart Memorial or Saturday's loss at Manchester.
Without Kaiser Saturday, the Warriors had their chances to win the game, but just looked sluggish and struggled shooting the ball.
Wawasee was just 4 of 20 from the field in the first half and allowed Manchester to go on a 9-0 run that led to a 21-19 halftime lead for the Squires.
"We couldn't sustain any runs offensively," said Wawasee coach Phil Mishler. "We couldn't sustain any stops. We didn't have any firepower and it came back to bite us."
Even without the "firepower" Mishler was talking about, the Warriors had more than their fair share of chances to win the game.
With 1:34 remaining in the game, Warrior senior Ryan Kauchak hit the second of two free throw opportunities to cut Manchester's lead to 43-42.
Seconds later, Manchester's Brett Williams missed a shot from the floor and Kauchak had the rebound, but the ball slipped through the 6-foot-4 frontliner's hands and out of bounds.
With 1:15 to play, Warrior sophomore Andrew Mock fouled out.
With 53 seconds remaining and Wawasee only down two, 46-44, Warrior point guard Kory Lantz picked up his fourth foul.
After being fouled by Lantz, Squire senior Joe Egner hit the first of two free throws for a three-point lead.
Sixteen seconds later, the Warriors could have tied the game, but Michael Conrad's three-point attempt missed and Egner got the rebound.
Egner hit two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to push the lead to 49-44, and then teammate Nate Stoops scored a bucket for a 51-44 lead that more than sealed the deal.
Lantz, a four-year starter, led the Warriors with a game-high 24 points, but did so on a 6-of-17 performance from the field. He was 9 of 12 from the free throw line.
Kauchak added 13 points, most of which came from the free throw line, where he was 7 of 8.
Egner led Manchester with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Nick Poe added 12 points and six rebounds. Bourne came off the bench and scored eight points on a 4-of-5 effort from the field.
Wawasee is in action again Friday when it hosts Plymouth, while the Squires travel to Rochester Saturday.
MANCHESTER 54, WAWASEE 46
Wawasee 13 6 13 14 - 46
Manchester 11 10 8 25 - 54
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Lantz 6-17 9-12 4 1 24
* Gerber 1-5 2-2 4 1 5
* Conrad 0-5 0-0 5 1 0
* Kauchak 3-8 7-8 7 1 13
*Zimmerman 1-2 0-0 3 0 2
Mock 0-5 0-0 2 0 0
Leach 1-2 0-0 1 0 1
Totals 12-44 18-22 26 4 46
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
* Camp 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
* Egner 5-13 9-12 7 0 20
* Poe 5-11 1-1 6 0 12
* Lengel 2-5 0-0 5 0 4
* Williams 2-3 0-0 5 2 4
Briner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Stoops 2-5 0-1 3 0 4
Bourne 4-5 0-0 2 0 8
Totals 19-45 10-14 30 2 56
Three-point goals - Wawasee 4-22 (Lantz 3-8, Gerber 1-4, Conrad 0-5, Mock 0-4, Kauchak 0-1), Manchester 2-12 (Poe 1-5, Egner 1-4, Camp 0-1, Lengel 0-1, Stoops 0-1). Turnovers - Wawasee 7, Manchester 6. Fouls - Wawasee 17, Manchester 17. Fouled out - Mock, Williams.
JV - Wawasee 17, Manchster 14 [[In-content Ad]]
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NORTH MANCHESTER - Though class sports took the David vs. Goliath matchup out of the state tournament, chalk up a win for the little guy in Saturday's regular season boys basketball clash between Manchester and Wawasee.
Behind 11 fourth-quarter points from senior Joe Egner and a boost off the bench from freshman Dan Bourne, host Manchester, a school of less than 600 students, upended Class 3A No. 9 Wawasee, a school nearly twice in size, 54-46.
For ninth-year Manchester coach Gary Goshert, not only was the 275th of his career, but also a win that put an extra-wide smile on his face, given the fact that his Squires not only beat the school he coached at for a decade, but that they beat them while the Warriors are as talented as they are.
"For me it is," said Goshert when asked if the win was any more special because it was over Wawasee, where he is the program's all time winningest coach, much like he is at Manchester. "We talked about how talented Wawasee is, and that we were in a situation where we weren't supposed to win. We talked about being the small school playing the big school, the small-school conference, the TRC (Three Rivers Conference), playing the big-school conference, the NLC (Northern Lakes Conference). We wanted to go in with that type of attitude and we did. This is pretty exciting."
The win was the fifth in a row for Manchester, which started the season 2-6 but now has things rolling with a 7-6 record. Wawasee, which started the season 8-0, has lost two of its last three games and is now 9-2 on the season.
"I'm happy to see things falling into place," said Goshert.
For Wawasee, it was a fall Thursday night in practice the Warrior coaching staff and players didn't want to see.
Senior guard Austin Kaiser, the team's leading scorer and all-around spark plug, dove for a loose ball in practice, and while doing so, made contact with a teammate and broke two bones in his hand.
He didn't play in Friday's win at Elkhart Memorial or Saturday's loss at Manchester.
Without Kaiser Saturday, the Warriors had their chances to win the game, but just looked sluggish and struggled shooting the ball.
Wawasee was just 4 of 20 from the field in the first half and allowed Manchester to go on a 9-0 run that led to a 21-19 halftime lead for the Squires.
"We couldn't sustain any runs offensively," said Wawasee coach Phil Mishler. "We couldn't sustain any stops. We didn't have any firepower and it came back to bite us."
Even without the "firepower" Mishler was talking about, the Warriors had more than their fair share of chances to win the game.
With 1:34 remaining in the game, Warrior senior Ryan Kauchak hit the second of two free throw opportunities to cut Manchester's lead to 43-42.
Seconds later, Manchester's Brett Williams missed a shot from the floor and Kauchak had the rebound, but the ball slipped through the 6-foot-4 frontliner's hands and out of bounds.
With 1:15 to play, Warrior sophomore Andrew Mock fouled out.
With 53 seconds remaining and Wawasee only down two, 46-44, Warrior point guard Kory Lantz picked up his fourth foul.
After being fouled by Lantz, Squire senior Joe Egner hit the first of two free throws for a three-point lead.
Sixteen seconds later, the Warriors could have tied the game, but Michael Conrad's three-point attempt missed and Egner got the rebound.
Egner hit two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to push the lead to 49-44, and then teammate Nate Stoops scored a bucket for a 51-44 lead that more than sealed the deal.
Lantz, a four-year starter, led the Warriors with a game-high 24 points, but did so on a 6-of-17 performance from the field. He was 9 of 12 from the free throw line.
Kauchak added 13 points, most of which came from the free throw line, where he was 7 of 8.
Egner led Manchester with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Nick Poe added 12 points and six rebounds. Bourne came off the bench and scored eight points on a 4-of-5 effort from the field.
Wawasee is in action again Friday when it hosts Plymouth, while the Squires travel to Rochester Saturday.
MANCHESTER 54, WAWASEE 46
Wawasee 13 6 13 14 - 46
Manchester 11 10 8 25 - 54
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
* Lantz 6-17 9-12 4 1 24
* Gerber 1-5 2-2 4 1 5
* Conrad 0-5 0-0 5 1 0
* Kauchak 3-8 7-8 7 1 13
*Zimmerman 1-2 0-0 3 0 2
Mock 0-5 0-0 2 0 0
Leach 1-2 0-0 1 0 1
Totals 12-44 18-22 26 4 46
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
* Camp 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
* Egner 5-13 9-12 7 0 20
* Poe 5-11 1-1 6 0 12
* Lengel 2-5 0-0 5 0 4
* Williams 2-3 0-0 5 2 4
Briner 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Stoops 2-5 0-1 3 0 4
Bourne 4-5 0-0 2 0 8
Totals 19-45 10-14 30 2 56
Three-point goals - Wawasee 4-22 (Lantz 3-8, Gerber 1-4, Conrad 0-5, Mock 0-4, Kauchak 0-1), Manchester 2-12 (Poe 1-5, Egner 1-4, Camp 0-1, Lengel 0-1, Stoops 0-1). Turnovers - Wawasee 7, Manchester 6. Fouls - Wawasee 17, Manchester 17. Fouled out - Mock, Williams.
JV - Wawasee 17, Manchster 14 [[In-content Ad]]