Squire Offense Fizzles Out
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - After Manchester dismantled Churubusco 70-41 Friday night, a reporter asked head coach Gary Goshert the question.
"Coach, could you give us your thoughts on playing Wawasee tomorrow night?"
You know, Coach, the school you last coached at before you came to Manchester. The school where you owned a 124-88 record as head coach from 1986 through 1996.
Goshert, sitting in the Manchester locker room with his tie loosened after the game, chuckled. He knew the question was coming. It wasn't a matter of if. It was a matter of when.
"I'll be glad when it's over," Goshert said.
Some twenty-four hours later, with 35 seconds to go in the game, his thoughts had changed little. His team trailed 42-28, and the visiting crowd was making some noise. "WA-WA-SEE," "WA-WA-SEE," the students chanted. Then they started singing "NA-NA HEY-HEY."
Mercifully, the clock finally ran out on the Manchester Squires, who lost 46-30.
Wawasee coach Jerry Davis downplayed the Goshert/Wawasee connection.
"There was no comment at all about that," Davis said. "Nothing. We did not address it. This was a game we had to play."
Not much went well for the 10-7 Squires, who had recently been chewing up and spitting out mediocre teams. They beat a 5-8 Whitko team 65-47. They drilled Tippecanoe Valley, minus two Viking suspended starters, 75-41. Then they took care of 3-11 Churubusco by 29.
Manchester had won three in a row overall and four in a row at home. The Squires were 6-2 on their floor, and they hadn't lost there since Columbia City beat them on a last-second shot on Dec. 21.
Then along came Wawasee. The Warriors may have had a 4-12 record on paper, but Goshert had coached those boys before. He knew what they could do, especially guards Ryan Mikel, Jared Mahnensmith and Jay Haugh. And their schedule. Teams like Triton, Warsaw, Plymouth, DeKalb, South Bend Riley and Northridge jumped out at you.
Davis said earlier in the week he liked the way his post players matched up with Manchester's post players. Whitko, Valley and Churubusco could not slow the Squires inside.
Davis is a disciple in the church of man-to-man defense. After all, he was a manager for Bob Knight at Indiana University. But on this night, he threw all kinds of defenses against the Squires. The Warriors used a 2-3 zone, a 1-3-1 zone and even some man-to-man.
They slowed Manchester 6-foot-4 center Chris Enyeart and 6-3 forward Jake Peden. Enyeart had scored 15 or more in the three previous wins. The two combined for just 14 points against Wawasee.
The Squires settled on perimeter jump shots. Bad news. The jump shots weren't falling. They were 0 of 14 shooting three-pointers and finished 14 of 50 overall.
"Our defensive game plan was executed very, very well," Davis said. "We had great change of defenses. In all my years, this is as much zone as we've played. We have quickness in the backcourt, but we felt their players were quicker. We wanted to play off them a little and keep them in front of us.
"It allowed us to be in a better position to help to keep them from getting to the basket. It constantly interrupted their rhythm. They didn't get used to any one defense.
"We hit them on a cold night shooting. The boards were big. We were able to keep them from getting second and third opportunities."
The most unbelievable statistic may have been the free throws. Opposing coaches consider Manchester a tough gym to play in.
So when Manchester nearly went without shooting any free throws, the home crowd was stunned. With four seconds left, Manchester's Jonathan Price made two free throws, the only time a Squire got to the line.
"We weren't taking the ball strong to the basket," Goshert said. "We weren't getting it inside enough. Those are two things that come to my mind."
Defensively, things weren't much better for the Squires. Wawasee attempted only 23 shots from the floor, but the Warriors hit 15, good for 65 percent.
Mikel, Haugh and Mahnensmith were as good as Goshert predicted they would be. They continually took the ball to the basket against the Squires, either getting the layup or dishing it off to 6-5 center Brody Stipp. Stipp led Wawasee with 14 points. Mikel had 12, and Mahnensmith had 11.
Going inside early helped them open up the outside game later. The Warriors led 12-6 after the first quarter, but three-pointers by Mahnensmith and Haugh sandwiched around a Manchester basket gave the Warriors the 18-8 lead with 6:25 left before halftime.
They led by six or more the rest of the way. No Manchester player ever got the hot hand to shoot the Squires back into the game.
"We had trouble containing their guards in the first half," Goshert said. "They probably had at least eight or 10 points on dribble penetration, bounce-pass for a layup.
"We weren't getting beat. We were getting blown away. They were getting around us so quickly. We knew their guards were going to be a handful. And they were. No doubt about it."
Still, the Squires had a chance in the fourth quarter. They trailed 32-24, and Goshert called a timeout with 6:01 left. It didn't do any good on this night. Manchester's first four possessions after the timeout? Missed shot, turnover, missed shot, turnover.
The Squires didn't score again until 2:42 remained, and they trailed 34-26.
Enyeart and Eric Swan paced the Squires with 10 points each.
Afterward, Goshert bemoaned his team's 28-percent shooting from the floor.
"To have been able to shoot the ball better would have been more beneficial to us," Goshert said. "Deliberate as they were, eight to 10 points was a pretty good-sized lead."
Wawasee, 5-12, hosts NorthWood on Friday.
Manchester is at Fort Wayne Elmhurst on Friday.
Afterward, the question (italics) popped up again, only in a different form.
"Coach, what was it like playing your old team?"
"Those kids are pretty special," Goshert replied. "It was good to see them do well. But I wanted the Squires to do well. Maybe they were trying too hard to do well for me. I don't know. I didn't want them to think that at all. I just wanted them to sustain the Squire effort we had the last three weeks."
Then he paused.
"I'm glad it's over with." [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER - After Manchester dismantled Churubusco 70-41 Friday night, a reporter asked head coach Gary Goshert the question.
"Coach, could you give us your thoughts on playing Wawasee tomorrow night?"
You know, Coach, the school you last coached at before you came to Manchester. The school where you owned a 124-88 record as head coach from 1986 through 1996.
Goshert, sitting in the Manchester locker room with his tie loosened after the game, chuckled. He knew the question was coming. It wasn't a matter of if. It was a matter of when.
"I'll be glad when it's over," Goshert said.
Some twenty-four hours later, with 35 seconds to go in the game, his thoughts had changed little. His team trailed 42-28, and the visiting crowd was making some noise. "WA-WA-SEE," "WA-WA-SEE," the students chanted. Then they started singing "NA-NA HEY-HEY."
Mercifully, the clock finally ran out on the Manchester Squires, who lost 46-30.
Wawasee coach Jerry Davis downplayed the Goshert/Wawasee connection.
"There was no comment at all about that," Davis said. "Nothing. We did not address it. This was a game we had to play."
Not much went well for the 10-7 Squires, who had recently been chewing up and spitting out mediocre teams. They beat a 5-8 Whitko team 65-47. They drilled Tippecanoe Valley, minus two Viking suspended starters, 75-41. Then they took care of 3-11 Churubusco by 29.
Manchester had won three in a row overall and four in a row at home. The Squires were 6-2 on their floor, and they hadn't lost there since Columbia City beat them on a last-second shot on Dec. 21.
Then along came Wawasee. The Warriors may have had a 4-12 record on paper, but Goshert had coached those boys before. He knew what they could do, especially guards Ryan Mikel, Jared Mahnensmith and Jay Haugh. And their schedule. Teams like Triton, Warsaw, Plymouth, DeKalb, South Bend Riley and Northridge jumped out at you.
Davis said earlier in the week he liked the way his post players matched up with Manchester's post players. Whitko, Valley and Churubusco could not slow the Squires inside.
Davis is a disciple in the church of man-to-man defense. After all, he was a manager for Bob Knight at Indiana University. But on this night, he threw all kinds of defenses against the Squires. The Warriors used a 2-3 zone, a 1-3-1 zone and even some man-to-man.
They slowed Manchester 6-foot-4 center Chris Enyeart and 6-3 forward Jake Peden. Enyeart had scored 15 or more in the three previous wins. The two combined for just 14 points against Wawasee.
The Squires settled on perimeter jump shots. Bad news. The jump shots weren't falling. They were 0 of 14 shooting three-pointers and finished 14 of 50 overall.
"Our defensive game plan was executed very, very well," Davis said. "We had great change of defenses. In all my years, this is as much zone as we've played. We have quickness in the backcourt, but we felt their players were quicker. We wanted to play off them a little and keep them in front of us.
"It allowed us to be in a better position to help to keep them from getting to the basket. It constantly interrupted their rhythm. They didn't get used to any one defense.
"We hit them on a cold night shooting. The boards were big. We were able to keep them from getting second and third opportunities."
The most unbelievable statistic may have been the free throws. Opposing coaches consider Manchester a tough gym to play in.
So when Manchester nearly went without shooting any free throws, the home crowd was stunned. With four seconds left, Manchester's Jonathan Price made two free throws, the only time a Squire got to the line.
"We weren't taking the ball strong to the basket," Goshert said. "We weren't getting it inside enough. Those are two things that come to my mind."
Defensively, things weren't much better for the Squires. Wawasee attempted only 23 shots from the floor, but the Warriors hit 15, good for 65 percent.
Mikel, Haugh and Mahnensmith were as good as Goshert predicted they would be. They continually took the ball to the basket against the Squires, either getting the layup or dishing it off to 6-5 center Brody Stipp. Stipp led Wawasee with 14 points. Mikel had 12, and Mahnensmith had 11.
Going inside early helped them open up the outside game later. The Warriors led 12-6 after the first quarter, but three-pointers by Mahnensmith and Haugh sandwiched around a Manchester basket gave the Warriors the 18-8 lead with 6:25 left before halftime.
They led by six or more the rest of the way. No Manchester player ever got the hot hand to shoot the Squires back into the game.
"We had trouble containing their guards in the first half," Goshert said. "They probably had at least eight or 10 points on dribble penetration, bounce-pass for a layup.
"We weren't getting beat. We were getting blown away. They were getting around us so quickly. We knew their guards were going to be a handful. And they were. No doubt about it."
Still, the Squires had a chance in the fourth quarter. They trailed 32-24, and Goshert called a timeout with 6:01 left. It didn't do any good on this night. Manchester's first four possessions after the timeout? Missed shot, turnover, missed shot, turnover.
The Squires didn't score again until 2:42 remained, and they trailed 34-26.
Enyeart and Eric Swan paced the Squires with 10 points each.
Afterward, Goshert bemoaned his team's 28-percent shooting from the floor.
"To have been able to shoot the ball better would have been more beneficial to us," Goshert said. "Deliberate as they were, eight to 10 points was a pretty good-sized lead."
Wawasee, 5-12, hosts NorthWood on Friday.
Manchester is at Fort Wayne Elmhurst on Friday.
Afterward, the question (italics) popped up again, only in a different form.
"Coach, what was it like playing your old team?"
"Those kids are pretty special," Goshert replied. "It was good to see them do well. But I wanted the Squires to do well. Maybe they were trying too hard to do well for me. I don't know. I didn't want them to think that at all. I just wanted them to sustain the Squire effort we had the last three weeks."
Then he paused.
"I'm glad it's over with." [[In-content Ad]]