Manchester Girls Win Big
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - All that coach-talk about approaching the season one game at a time, fifth-year Manchester High School girls basketball skipper Mark Underwood wants to take it even further.
With the start of the state tournament not far off, Underwood wants his team to take things one possession at a time.
Wednesday night against Peru his philosphy worked, as the Class 2A second-ranked Squires used strong starts to both halves to tame the Tigers 54-34.
"I'm proud of the girls," said Underwood, who posted his 100th career win as a high school coach. "One of the things we're trying to stay focused on is not taking anyone lightly. In high school girls basketball anybody can beat anybody on any given night. We're trying to stay focused and block everything else out."
And the Squires certainly did some blocking out against Peru, beating the Tigers 44-24 in rebounding.
Manchester just simply didn't take the Tigers lightly, though Peru entered the game 3-10 while the Squires came in with a 13-0 record and a Class 2A state ranking.
What Underwood's players did was - other than spurts late in the game when the contest got a tad sloppy - was play fundamental team basketbally.
The Squires used ball rotation to get higher-percentage shots.
They dove for loose ball after loose ball.
They played defense and got themselves in position to get rebounds.
All the little things Manchester did, things that don't show up in a box score, are part of the big picture.
And the big picture for Underwood, his dedicated assistants and his players is getting better in each practice and game and preparing for a run in the state tournament, which for the Squires starts Feb. 7 in the Northfield Sectional.
Wednesday night against Peru, the Squires raced out to an 11-0 lead and led 20-6 after the first quarter.
Manchester, playing with heart and desire as if the game was close, came out in the third quarter and turned a 36-18 halftime lead into a 50-22 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
The Squires started the second half with a 12-1 run and led by as much as 29 in both the third and fourth quarters.
Even when the game was well in hand, which was pretty much from the start, Manchester's players were hustling and diving for loose balls.
The end result was 16 steals for the Squires' defense. Peru finished the game with 22 turnovers.
"Anytime there was a loose ball, there were white jerseys on the floor," Underwood said of his team. "They were doing the little things. Not necessarily things like scoring points or an assist, but things that get games won."
Through 14 games, the Squires are perfect in the win-loss column. They've won their games by an average of nearly 19 points.
Only one team, conference rival Northfield, has been within double digits of the Squires at the end of a game this season.
Manchester beat the Norse 45-42 in Three Rivers Conference action Dec. 3 and came back Dec. 30 and beat Northfield 48-35 in the championship game of the Wabash County Tournament.
While Peru is home to the International Circus Hall of Fame, Wednesday's game featured yet another balancing act, so to speak, by the host Squires.
Junior Christa Peden led Manchester with a game-high 14 points, while classmates Audrey Siebrase and Libby Pattison scored nine points each.
Junior Caroline Andersen scored eight points in the win, while senior Casey Thomas finished with seven points.
Pattison also tallied eight rebounds and four steals, while Peden and Andersen each had six rebounds.
Senior Katie Mullett scored a team-high 10 points for Peru, while sophomore Michelle Smithberger added five points.
Manchester is in action again Saturday when the Squires host conference foe Oak Hill.
Both teams enter Saturday's contest with 4-0 records in the TRC.
MANCHESTER 54, PERU 34
Peru 6 12 4 12 - 34
Manch 20 16 14 4 - 54
Peru FG FT R S Pts.
* Shaw 0-3 1-2 5 1 1
* Swinford 1-8 1-3 1 0 3
* Mavrick 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
* Lindzy 2-3 0-3 2 0 4
* Miller 2-3 0-0 2 0 4
M. Smthbrgr 1-4 3-3 3 3 5
Cyphers 2-4 0-0 5 0 4
Mullett 4-7 1-2 0 2 10
R. Smthbrgr 1-6 1-4 4 0 3
Totals 13-38 7-17 24 6 34
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
* Thomas 3-6 1-2 3 3 7
* Purdy 1-4 0-0 3 3 2
* Pattison 4-12 1-2 8 4 9
* Siebrase 4-6 1-2 5 3 9
* Peden 3-5 8-8 6 0 14
Winterrowd 0-2 0-0 3 0 0
Carver 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
Bowers 2-10 0-0 4 3 5
Andersen 4-9 0-2 6 0 8
Lockhart 0-3 0-2 3 0 0
O'Brien 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 21-58 11-18 44 16 54
Three-point goals - Peru 1-6 (Mullett 1-2, M. Smithberger 0-2, R. Smithberger 0-2), Manchester 1-5 (Bowers 1-4, Purdy 0-1). Turnovers - Peru 22, Manchester 18. Fouls - Peru 16, Manchester 14. Fouled out - none.
JV - Manchester 35, Peru 28
Manchester scoring - O'Brien 8, Lockhart 6, Pyle 6, Johnson 5, Walters 5, Lahman 3, Zile 2 [[In-content Ad]]
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NORTH MANCHESTER - All that coach-talk about approaching the season one game at a time, fifth-year Manchester High School girls basketball skipper Mark Underwood wants to take it even further.
With the start of the state tournament not far off, Underwood wants his team to take things one possession at a time.
Wednesday night against Peru his philosphy worked, as the Class 2A second-ranked Squires used strong starts to both halves to tame the Tigers 54-34.
"I'm proud of the girls," said Underwood, who posted his 100th career win as a high school coach. "One of the things we're trying to stay focused on is not taking anyone lightly. In high school girls basketball anybody can beat anybody on any given night. We're trying to stay focused and block everything else out."
And the Squires certainly did some blocking out against Peru, beating the Tigers 44-24 in rebounding.
Manchester just simply didn't take the Tigers lightly, though Peru entered the game 3-10 while the Squires came in with a 13-0 record and a Class 2A state ranking.
What Underwood's players did was - other than spurts late in the game when the contest got a tad sloppy - was play fundamental team basketbally.
The Squires used ball rotation to get higher-percentage shots.
They dove for loose ball after loose ball.
They played defense and got themselves in position to get rebounds.
All the little things Manchester did, things that don't show up in a box score, are part of the big picture.
And the big picture for Underwood, his dedicated assistants and his players is getting better in each practice and game and preparing for a run in the state tournament, which for the Squires starts Feb. 7 in the Northfield Sectional.
Wednesday night against Peru, the Squires raced out to an 11-0 lead and led 20-6 after the first quarter.
Manchester, playing with heart and desire as if the game was close, came out in the third quarter and turned a 36-18 halftime lead into a 50-22 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
The Squires started the second half with a 12-1 run and led by as much as 29 in both the third and fourth quarters.
Even when the game was well in hand, which was pretty much from the start, Manchester's players were hustling and diving for loose balls.
The end result was 16 steals for the Squires' defense. Peru finished the game with 22 turnovers.
"Anytime there was a loose ball, there were white jerseys on the floor," Underwood said of his team. "They were doing the little things. Not necessarily things like scoring points or an assist, but things that get games won."
Through 14 games, the Squires are perfect in the win-loss column. They've won their games by an average of nearly 19 points.
Only one team, conference rival Northfield, has been within double digits of the Squires at the end of a game this season.
Manchester beat the Norse 45-42 in Three Rivers Conference action Dec. 3 and came back Dec. 30 and beat Northfield 48-35 in the championship game of the Wabash County Tournament.
While Peru is home to the International Circus Hall of Fame, Wednesday's game featured yet another balancing act, so to speak, by the host Squires.
Junior Christa Peden led Manchester with a game-high 14 points, while classmates Audrey Siebrase and Libby Pattison scored nine points each.
Junior Caroline Andersen scored eight points in the win, while senior Casey Thomas finished with seven points.
Pattison also tallied eight rebounds and four steals, while Peden and Andersen each had six rebounds.
Senior Katie Mullett scored a team-high 10 points for Peru, while sophomore Michelle Smithberger added five points.
Manchester is in action again Saturday when the Squires host conference foe Oak Hill.
Both teams enter Saturday's contest with 4-0 records in the TRC.
MANCHESTER 54, PERU 34
Peru 6 12 4 12 - 34
Manch 20 16 14 4 - 54
Peru FG FT R S Pts.
* Shaw 0-3 1-2 5 1 1
* Swinford 1-8 1-3 1 0 3
* Mavrick 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
* Lindzy 2-3 0-3 2 0 4
* Miller 2-3 0-0 2 0 4
M. Smthbrgr 1-4 3-3 3 3 5
Cyphers 2-4 0-0 5 0 4
Mullett 4-7 1-2 0 2 10
R. Smthbrgr 1-6 1-4 4 0 3
Totals 13-38 7-17 24 6 34
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
* Thomas 3-6 1-2 3 3 7
* Purdy 1-4 0-0 3 3 2
* Pattison 4-12 1-2 8 4 9
* Siebrase 4-6 1-2 5 3 9
* Peden 3-5 8-8 6 0 14
Winterrowd 0-2 0-0 3 0 0
Carver 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
Bowers 2-10 0-0 4 3 5
Andersen 4-9 0-2 6 0 8
Lockhart 0-3 0-2 3 0 0
O'Brien 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 21-58 11-18 44 16 54
Three-point goals - Peru 1-6 (Mullett 1-2, M. Smithberger 0-2, R. Smithberger 0-2), Manchester 1-5 (Bowers 1-4, Purdy 0-1). Turnovers - Peru 22, Manchester 18. Fouls - Peru 16, Manchester 14. Fouled out - none.
JV - Manchester 35, Peru 28
Manchester scoring - O'Brien 8, Lockhart 6, Pyle 6, Johnson 5, Walters 5, Lahman 3, Zile 2 [[In-content Ad]]