Lady Squires Survive Sectional Scare
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Going into their first-round matchup in Class 2A Sectional 23 at Wabash High School Wednesday, the Southwood Lady Knights (6-15) had already defeated the Manchester Lady Squires (16-5) on Dec. 16, and they almost pulled off the upset again, but came up short, losing 50-46.
"Both teams have really progressed since that game," Manchester coach Mark Underwood said, referring to his team's 38-33 regular season loss to the Lady Knights. "Tonight, both teams played really well. They're just a nightmare matchup for us. They are a team with size and they're just tough to handle. We did what we needed to. We tried to use our speed to get out in transition, but at the end of the day, they're just a hard team to play."
Southwood's six blocked shots, with four different girls accounting for those six, illustrated the size of the Lady Knights, which sported a frontline featuring two 6-foot girls (juniors Emily Murphy and Anna Farlow) as well as 6-2 freshman Katie Stouffer.
The size of Southwood got the team off to a 9-0 start, then Underwood inserted senior forward Kaylee Watson into the game, giving the Lady Squires a spark.
As soon as the 5-7 Watson got onto the court, she began penetrating the Lady Knights' defense, scoring Manchester's first bucket six minutes into the game.
"Kaylee Watson really played well," Underwood said. "She definitely came in and gave us a huge boost. She played under control tonight, which for her, is just awesome. There's been times this year where she's been a little out of position on defense, but she played great defense tonight."
In all, Watson had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, but her jolt of energy went beyond the stats.
With the offense finally moving, the Lady Squires pulled back into the game and took a 21-20 lead to end the half, with Watson scoring the final four.
Manchester's talent appeared to be taking over in the second half, going in front 30-24 at the 3:56 mark of the third quarter, but Southwood just wouldn't go away.
Each time Manchester looked like it could get comfortable, Southwood used a small 6-0 run to make things interesting.
That kind of run occurred after Manchester got that 30-24 lead, knotting the game up at 30-30, then again when Manchester held a 47-40 lead with 3:19 remaining in the game.
Just when it seemed the Lady Squires could exhale, Southwood junior Sarah White scored four-straight points and junior Emily Murphy hit a bucket to cut the Manchester lead to 47-46 with 1:42 remaining.
A free throw by senior Hannah Little gave Manchester a 48-46 lead with a minute to go, but the excitement wasn't quite over.
On its ensuing possession, Southwood got two three-point shots and a two-point field goal attempt off until Manchester senior Meika Kennedy finally corralled a rebound.
Upon getting the board, Kennedy was fouled and went to the free-throw line, where she hit both, scoring her only points of the game and giving the Lady Squires a 50-46 lead with 5.2 seconds remaining.
"Those were two big free throws she hit with a lot of pressure on her," Underwood said. "When we got those free throws, it really, really made it tough for them to get back into it."
Southwood couldn't get back into it, and now Manchester will play Northfield Friday at 7:30 p.m.
"We're just going to keep taking it one step at a time and try not to look ahead," he said. "We're just going to try to get the job done."
Senior Kayla Flack helped Manchester get the job done against Southwood with her game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Little had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Along with seven of the nine girls that played getting into the scoring column, Underwood was also impressed with the resolve of his team.
"As far as hanging together and not giving up, I think we really progressed," he said. "The first time we played them, when things weren't going well, we kind of lost our composure mentally. We didn't keep our cool, but tonight, we did."
The semifinal matchup between Manchester and Northfield will be another Three Rivers Conference rematch, as Manchester defeated Northfield 61-47 in a regular season road game and 49-44 at the Wabash County Tournament on Dec. 29.
MANCHESTER 50, SOUTHWOOD 46
(Sectional 23, 1st Rd)
S 13 7 14 12 - 46
M 4 17 15 14 - 50
Manchester - Malyssa Bedke 0-1 0-0 0, Meika Kennedy 0-3 2-2 2, Hanna Schmidt 0-2 1-2 1, Kayla Flack 7-12 5-6 19, Hannah Little 3-6 5-8 11, Bekah Brunn 1-4 0-1 2, Kaylee Watson 4-10 5-7 13, Lindsey Budnik 0-1 0-0 0, Autumn Brewer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 16-41 18-26 50.
Southwood - Jaycie Wright 1-5 0-2 2, Sarah White 6-21 2-3 15, Amy Bowman 2-7 0-0 4, Kaley Harness 5-8 0-0 10, Anna Farlow 1-4 2-4 4, Mollie Harnish 0-2 0-0 0, Allie Enyeart 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Pegg 1-6 0-0 3, Emily Murphy 3-4 0-0 6, Katie Stouffer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-59 4-9 46.
Three-point goals - Manchester 0-3, Southwood 2-10 (White, Pegg); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Manchester 7, Southwood 17 (Farlow); Turnovers - Manchester 20, Southwood 14; Rebounds - Manchester 31 (Little 8), Southwood 25 (White 5, Farlow 5); Assists - Manchester 6 (Kennedy 5), Southwood 7 (White 2, Bowman 2); Steals - Manchester 7 (Kennedy 2, Watson 2), Southwood 4; Blocks - Manchester 2, Southwood 6 (Harness 2); Records: Manchester 16-5, Southwood 6-15.[[In-content Ad]]
Going into their first-round matchup in Class 2A Sectional 23 at Wabash High School Wednesday, the Southwood Lady Knights (6-15) had already defeated the Manchester Lady Squires (16-5) on Dec. 16, and they almost pulled off the upset again, but came up short, losing 50-46.
"Both teams have really progressed since that game," Manchester coach Mark Underwood said, referring to his team's 38-33 regular season loss to the Lady Knights. "Tonight, both teams played really well. They're just a nightmare matchup for us. They are a team with size and they're just tough to handle. We did what we needed to. We tried to use our speed to get out in transition, but at the end of the day, they're just a hard team to play."
Southwood's six blocked shots, with four different girls accounting for those six, illustrated the size of the Lady Knights, which sported a frontline featuring two 6-foot girls (juniors Emily Murphy and Anna Farlow) as well as 6-2 freshman Katie Stouffer.
The size of Southwood got the team off to a 9-0 start, then Underwood inserted senior forward Kaylee Watson into the game, giving the Lady Squires a spark.
As soon as the 5-7 Watson got onto the court, she began penetrating the Lady Knights' defense, scoring Manchester's first bucket six minutes into the game.
"Kaylee Watson really played well," Underwood said. "She definitely came in and gave us a huge boost. She played under control tonight, which for her, is just awesome. There's been times this year where she's been a little out of position on defense, but she played great defense tonight."
In all, Watson had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, but her jolt of energy went beyond the stats.
With the offense finally moving, the Lady Squires pulled back into the game and took a 21-20 lead to end the half, with Watson scoring the final four.
Manchester's talent appeared to be taking over in the second half, going in front 30-24 at the 3:56 mark of the third quarter, but Southwood just wouldn't go away.
Each time Manchester looked like it could get comfortable, Southwood used a small 6-0 run to make things interesting.
That kind of run occurred after Manchester got that 30-24 lead, knotting the game up at 30-30, then again when Manchester held a 47-40 lead with 3:19 remaining in the game.
Just when it seemed the Lady Squires could exhale, Southwood junior Sarah White scored four-straight points and junior Emily Murphy hit a bucket to cut the Manchester lead to 47-46 with 1:42 remaining.
A free throw by senior Hannah Little gave Manchester a 48-46 lead with a minute to go, but the excitement wasn't quite over.
On its ensuing possession, Southwood got two three-point shots and a two-point field goal attempt off until Manchester senior Meika Kennedy finally corralled a rebound.
Upon getting the board, Kennedy was fouled and went to the free-throw line, where she hit both, scoring her only points of the game and giving the Lady Squires a 50-46 lead with 5.2 seconds remaining.
"Those were two big free throws she hit with a lot of pressure on her," Underwood said. "When we got those free throws, it really, really made it tough for them to get back into it."
Southwood couldn't get back into it, and now Manchester will play Northfield Friday at 7:30 p.m.
"We're just going to keep taking it one step at a time and try not to look ahead," he said. "We're just going to try to get the job done."
Senior Kayla Flack helped Manchester get the job done against Southwood with her game-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Little had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Along with seven of the nine girls that played getting into the scoring column, Underwood was also impressed with the resolve of his team.
"As far as hanging together and not giving up, I think we really progressed," he said. "The first time we played them, when things weren't going well, we kind of lost our composure mentally. We didn't keep our cool, but tonight, we did."
The semifinal matchup between Manchester and Northfield will be another Three Rivers Conference rematch, as Manchester defeated Northfield 61-47 in a regular season road game and 49-44 at the Wabash County Tournament on Dec. 29.
MANCHESTER 50, SOUTHWOOD 46
(Sectional 23, 1st Rd)
S 13 7 14 12 - 46
M 4 17 15 14 - 50
Manchester - Malyssa Bedke 0-1 0-0 0, Meika Kennedy 0-3 2-2 2, Hanna Schmidt 0-2 1-2 1, Kayla Flack 7-12 5-6 19, Hannah Little 3-6 5-8 11, Bekah Brunn 1-4 0-1 2, Kaylee Watson 4-10 5-7 13, Lindsey Budnik 0-1 0-0 0, Autumn Brewer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 16-41 18-26 50.
Southwood - Jaycie Wright 1-5 0-2 2, Sarah White 6-21 2-3 15, Amy Bowman 2-7 0-0 4, Kaley Harness 5-8 0-0 10, Anna Farlow 1-4 2-4 4, Mollie Harnish 0-2 0-0 0, Allie Enyeart 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Pegg 1-6 0-0 3, Emily Murphy 3-4 0-0 6, Katie Stouffer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-59 4-9 46.
Three-point goals - Manchester 0-3, Southwood 2-10 (White, Pegg); Team Fouls (fouled out) - Manchester 7, Southwood 17 (Farlow); Turnovers - Manchester 20, Southwood 14; Rebounds - Manchester 31 (Little 8), Southwood 25 (White 5, Farlow 5); Assists - Manchester 6 (Kennedy 5), Southwood 7 (White 2, Bowman 2); Steals - Manchester 7 (Kennedy 2, Watson 2), Southwood 4; Blocks - Manchester 2, Southwood 6 (Harness 2); Records: Manchester 16-5, Southwood 6-15.[[In-content Ad]]
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