No. 5 Squires Advance To Wabash County Championship Game
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The Manchester Squires basketball team rolled into the Wabash County Tournament ranked No. 5 in Class 2A.
Gary Goshert learned something about his top 10 basketball team. He learned the Squires could throw the ball away 21 times and still win by 21 points.
They did it Friday when they beat Northfield 72-51 in the first round of the tournament. Manchester improved to 6-1, while Northfield slipped to 2-6.
Goshert only asks his Squires don't make it a habit of winning games with 21 turnovers.
The Squires made up for the turnover fest by getting open against a flat-footed Northfield defense that always appeared a step too slow. Manchester hit 23 of 40 shots the last three quarters, thanks to good, hard cuts to the basket. When players like Chris Good - who scored 15 - made the cuts, players like guards Michael Hendrix and Rex Reimer fed them crisp passes right on time in the paint. Northfield defenders were always too slow to recover.
And Manchester made the Norsemen pay by outscoring them 63-37 the final three quarters.
"It's not like we fell flat on our face," Goshert said. "We just made too many turnovers."
Six-foot-four senior Manchester center Chris Enyeart delivered another solid game inside, scoring 15 points and snaring 14 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Good scored 11 of his 15 in the second quarter to help the Squires turn an early 16-10 deficit into a 32-25 halftime lead.
Hendrix came off the bench and delivered eight points, four assists and two rebounds. Reimer got into foul trouble and fouled out, but when he was on the floor, he proved to be the Squires' best ball handler.
"We had some good performances," Goshert said. "Enyeart did a good job under the boards. Good got in there. Rex Reimer and Michael Hendrix were aggressive against their pressure and did a lot of creative things that helped us out.
"The first quarter, you saw us hesitant, trying to figure out what we needed to do versus just reacting. When we did that, we created some positive situations offensively. Better passes. Better cuts to the passes. Better end results."
Manchester meets Wabash in the championship game at 8:30 p.m. Wabash (3-5) beat Southwood (4-3) 87-83 in overtime. Manchester hosted Wabash earlier this season and beat the Apaches 51-38.
"We know a little about (Wabash)," Goshert said. "We know we have to do a much better job offensively and defensively. We'll have to take our game to another notch. We need to be sharper."
One year ago, Northfield played and beat Southwood 72-59 in the championship game. Both teams are relegated to consolation duties this evening. [[In-content Ad]]
The Manchester Squires basketball team rolled into the Wabash County Tournament ranked No. 5 in Class 2A.
Gary Goshert learned something about his top 10 basketball team. He learned the Squires could throw the ball away 21 times and still win by 21 points.
They did it Friday when they beat Northfield 72-51 in the first round of the tournament. Manchester improved to 6-1, while Northfield slipped to 2-6.
Goshert only asks his Squires don't make it a habit of winning games with 21 turnovers.
The Squires made up for the turnover fest by getting open against a flat-footed Northfield defense that always appeared a step too slow. Manchester hit 23 of 40 shots the last three quarters, thanks to good, hard cuts to the basket. When players like Chris Good - who scored 15 - made the cuts, players like guards Michael Hendrix and Rex Reimer fed them crisp passes right on time in the paint. Northfield defenders were always too slow to recover.
And Manchester made the Norsemen pay by outscoring them 63-37 the final three quarters.
"It's not like we fell flat on our face," Goshert said. "We just made too many turnovers."
Six-foot-four senior Manchester center Chris Enyeart delivered another solid game inside, scoring 15 points and snaring 14 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Good scored 11 of his 15 in the second quarter to help the Squires turn an early 16-10 deficit into a 32-25 halftime lead.
Hendrix came off the bench and delivered eight points, four assists and two rebounds. Reimer got into foul trouble and fouled out, but when he was on the floor, he proved to be the Squires' best ball handler.
"We had some good performances," Goshert said. "Enyeart did a good job under the boards. Good got in there. Rex Reimer and Michael Hendrix were aggressive against their pressure and did a lot of creative things that helped us out.
"The first quarter, you saw us hesitant, trying to figure out what we needed to do versus just reacting. When we did that, we created some positive situations offensively. Better passes. Better cuts to the passes. Better end results."
Manchester meets Wabash in the championship game at 8:30 p.m. Wabash (3-5) beat Southwood (4-3) 87-83 in overtime. Manchester hosted Wabash earlier this season and beat the Apaches 51-38.
"We know a little about (Wabash)," Goshert said. "We know we have to do a much better job offensively and defensively. We'll have to take our game to another notch. We need to be sharper."
One year ago, Northfield played and beat Southwood 72-59 in the championship game. Both teams are relegated to consolation duties this evening. [[In-content Ad]]