NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊAlthough the Manchester boys basketball team fell to the Bishop Dwenger Saints 62-56 Friday night, Squire coach Gary Goshert was pleased with his team's performance.

"The effort out there tonight was excellent, second to none," said Goshert. "This was the best team we've played so far. We still have to work on the little things on both ends of the floor."

The Squires started the game with a bang as Keaton Patrick nailed a three-pointer at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter.

Soon Manchester found itself with an 8-3 advantage at the 2:42 mark, but that lead did not last long. Dwenger went on a 9-0 run to finish the first frame with a 12-8 advantage.

Dwenger's Mike Steinau hit two free throws and Jacob Henry hit another basket to open the second stanza, as Dwenger extended its lead to eight, 16-8.

Squire junior Joe Egner stopped Dwenger's run with a basket of his own to make the score 16-10.

At the 4:46 mark in the second frame, Manchester's Tim Clark hit both ends of a one-and-bonus opportunity, and Patrick hit both tries of a double bonus opportunity to cut the deficit to four, 22-18.

The Squires kept chipping away at Dwenger's lead, and a trey by Patrick at the 1:43 mark gave Manchester it's first lead since early in the first quarter, 27-26.

However, Saint junior Adam Cagnet aced a three-pointer with 35.4 ticks left on the clock to give Dwenger a 29-27 lead at the halftime break.

The Saints struck first in the third frame when Nathan Bojrab hit a basket at the 7:23 mark.

Patrick answered with yet another three-pointer, and the race was on.

Dwenger and Manchester traded baskets for the rest of the third frame, and a basket by Greg Lengel with just 30 second left in the quarter cut Dwenger's lead to one, 44-43.

Manchester took it's first lead of the second half at the 6:54 mark in the fourth stanza. Clark nailed a three-pointer to give the Squires a 46-44 advantage.

But back-to-back-to-back baskets by Dwenger's Steinau, Cagnet and Chris Sands put the Saints back in control 51-46 with 5:33 left in regulation.

Dwenger continued to add to its lead, and a basket by Bojrab with 7.7 ticks left on the clock looked to be the final score of the game. But Patrick iced one last three as the buzzer sounded to make the final score 62-56.

"I have got to commend our guys," said Goshert. "They played tough against a tremendous defensive press. Dwenger has a good, solid defense."

Patrick led all Squire scorers in the contest with 20 points, while Clark added 10 and Egner scored nine.

Dwenger's Bojrab was the high-scorer in the game with 23 points. He was followed by teammates Steinau and Sands with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

"We had some lapses defensivley tonight, but overall I am pleased with the effort," said Goshert. "We did turn the ball over too much. In that respect we were our own worst enemy. The turnovers were costly.

"This was a good game for us, a good measuring stick. I am pleased."

The loss puts manchester at 1-2 on the season. The Squires will travel to Peru for a game with the Tigers Dec. 9.

BISHOP DWENGER 62, MANCHESTER 56

Dwenger 12 17 15 18 - 62

Manchester 8 19 16 13 - 56

Dwenger FG FT R S Pts.

Steinau 4-12 8-8 2 1 18

Sands 4-8 0-0 5 0 10

Polley 0-3 0-1 4 0 0

Henry 1-1 1-2 0 3 3

Hall 0-1 0-0 4 0 0

Bjorab 5-9 6-8 4 7 21

Cagnet 2-5 3-4 0 0 6

Kimes 1-2 0-0 1 0 2

Koester 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Araujo 0-1 2-2 3 1 2

Totals 17-42 18-23 23 12 62

Manchester FG FT R S Pts.

Mork 1-4 4-6 6 1 6

Poe 2-4 0-0 2 0 5

Williams 0-2 0-0 4 0 0

Patrick 5-8 5-6 3 1 20

Egner 4-8 1-3 3 1 9

Clark 3-5 3-4 2 0 10

Lengel 3-3 0-0 6 0 6

Camp 0-1 0-0 0 1 0

Erickson 0-0 0-2 2 0 0

Totals 18-35 13-19 26 4 56

Three-point goals - Dwenger 8-15 (Steinau 2-3, Sands 2-4, Bojrab 2-5, Cagnet 1-3), Manchester 7-10 (Poe 1-1, Patrick 5-8, Clark 1-1). Fouls - Dwenger 18, Manchester 19. Fouled out - None.

JV - Bishop Dwenger 43, Manchester 27 [[In-content Ad]]