NORTH MANCHESTER - Last year Manchester coach Mark Underwood and his Squire team went 4-17, which ended with a first round sectional loss to North Miami 35-20. What a difference a year makes. Manchester has gone from cellar dwellers to sectional champs and did so in exciting fashion with a 57-49 overtime win over Wabash on Saturday night. Valentines Day left the Apaches broken hearted as they fell to Manchester for the third time this season.

It appeared as though the third time would not be the charm for Manchester. Senior standout Brit Rager hit a basket early in the second quarter and then hit the Squires next field goal attempt. The only problem is the next basket wasn't until 2:56 left in the third quarter. That's a Grapes of Wrath type drought. Even so the Squires were able to hold Wabash to nine points during that time and only be down 25-20. After going over a quarter without scoring the Squires unloaded for 12 points in the final three minutes of the quarter and hold a 30-29 edge.

Manchester got the lead up to six early in the final period and looked as though they would roll onto the regionals. Wabash had other designs. The Apaches, who were turnover happy for the first three quarters, finally saw the benefits of Squire miscues.

Five fourth-quarter turnovers including several in a row led Wabash to an 11-0 run. Suddenly it was Wabash eyeing the South Adams Regional. Manchester narrowed the gap at 40-37 with 1:16 to play on a Rager jumper. Ironically what kept Manchester in the game was something that plagued the Squires the entire tournament, poor foul shooting. The Apaches went 1 of 4 down the stretch allowing Manchester to hang tough. And that's just what they did. Down 41-39 freshman Audrey Siebrase drove down the lane jumped and somehow found 5-foot-3 Sarah Purdy, the smallest player on the court under the basket for the lay in with 6.8 seconds left to play. Wabash had one final opportunity to avoid extra time but Abby Schuler's deep three-point try was off the mark as time expired.

Manchester went on an 8-1 run to start overtime and never looked back. The Squires scored 16 points in four overtime minutes. Rager, who finished the night with a game high 19, netted eight of those. The senior surrounded by freshman and sophomores was well aware of the change from this year to the last.

"This has been just great," said Underwood. "We had a great team last year things just didn't go our way. This year we had great team chemistry, a lot of the young players stepped up and we had more success."

For Coach Underwood it was important to see that last year had no residual effects.

"It's just a testament to those kids playing last year," said Underwood. "They didn't become losers. They always gave championship efforts."

And last year's struggles paid off this year with the team's first sectional championship since the 1997-1998 season. That year's collection won the schools only regional championship in girls basketball. For that to happen this year at South Adams they'll first have to move past 17-5 Harding in the day's second game at noon.

Saturday night Underwood was less concerned with what was ahead as to what they had just won. A big part of the win was the clutch performances of a group of freshmen. Besides Siebrase whose assist led to overtime, 5-10 freshman Libby Pattison came up huge with 10 points and 15 rebounds on the night. Fellow freshman Christa Peden added seven points of her own.

For Underwood he's already promoted them to 10th grade.

"We talked so much about how you're not a freshman anymore," he said. "By this time we're a veteran tournament team."

And it showed. Despite poor shooting from the line and the field they stepped up defensively, especially on Lacy Harness. The senior standout averaged 18.1 points per game but was held to six Saturday night. And while Manchester struggled from the line the entire tournament, the final game was the first time they shot over 50 percent (12-22).

Maybe the wise old timer Rager put Saturday night's effort best.

"This is just what happens when we all get it going," said Rager.

MANCHESTER 57, WABASH 49 OT

Manchester 16 2 12 11 16 - 57

Wabash 13 9 7 12 8 - 49

Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.

Naragon 2-3 0-0 0 1 4 5

Purdy 2-7 5-6 1 2 3 9

Peden 3-8 1-5 1 0 4 7

Pattison 4-10 2-2 0 0 15 10

Rager 8-19 2-4 1 1 6 19

Thomas 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 3

Hoch 0-6 0-0 0 0 5 0

Siebrase 1-2 2-5 4 2 4 4

Totals 21-57 12-22 7 6 41 57

Wabash FG FT A S R Pts.

Schuler 4-9 0-1 1 0 1 11

Fox 1-6 0-1 3 1 1 3

Harness 2-9 2-4 2 3 13 6

Lambert 4-8 2-3 0 1 4 10

Dawes 6-10 2-3 1 1 2 17

Beauchamp 1-2 0-0 2 0 0 2

Miller 0-1 0-0 0 0 3 0

Totals 18-45 6-12 7 6 24 49

Three-point goals - Manchester 3-16 (Naragon 1-1, Rager 1-6, Thomas 1-2) Wabash 7-16 (Dawes 3-6, Schuler 3-7, Fox 1-3). Turnovers -ÊManchester 19 Wabash 18. Total Fouls -ÊManchester 17 Wabash 14. Fouled Out -ÊNone. [[In-content Ad]]