NORTH MANCHESTER - There was a lot of buzz before Friday night's game that the Manchester Squires would make quick work of the Churubsco Eagles. The Eagles came into the game barely over .500 at 7-6 while Manchester's record was 11-3.

That didn't prove to be the case as both teams battled on both ends of the floor. A couple of late mistakes by Churubusco and some free throws from the Squires gave Manchester the edge with a 57-50 victory.

According to Manchester basketball coach Gary Goshert, Churubusco's intense level of play was expected by his team.

"I knew (Churubusco) was going to be physical and play hard. They were strong inside and we couldn't stop them early," said Goshert.

The inside presence Goshert was referring to was senior center Justin Gordon.

Gordon scored six first-quarter points as Churubusco jumped out to a 17-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Manchester was led early and often by Eric Swan, who scored six of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter.

#Despite early sloppy play and being beaten on the boards, Manchester stormed back in the second quarter.

Swan added another six points in the second quarter and was aided by Rex Reimer and Lee Shafer, who added five and three points respectively,

Along with an increased offensive output, the Squires began to tighten up on the defensive end as well, causing several Churubusco turnovers and limiting the Eagles to 11 second-quarter points.

The Squires' defensive pressure intensified in the second half as they could manage only 11 points in the third quarter and 22 points in the second half.

"I told them to tighten up on their weak-side defense and rebounding," said Goshert. "We needed to put more defensive pressure on them in the second half, and that forced some turnovers on their part, which allowed us to put some points on the board."

Those points didn't come in the third quarter, however, as Manchester put just eight points on the board and went into the final quarter clinging to a three- point lead at 42-39.

Manchester looked like it was going to put the game away as it started the quarter with a 9-4 run. Churubusco fought back as junior guard James Ford hit two straight baskets and was followed by a David Kiester jumper.

With 1:37 left in the game, the Squires were up only 51-47 but had possession of the ball. Fawcett drove to the basket and missed a layup, but Chris Betten was there for the board and threw it in, giving the Squires a six point lead.

Churubusco would never draw any closer then five as Manchester hit late free throws to escape with the seven-point win.

Manchester, 12-3, hosts 0-15 Wawasee tonight.

MANCHESTER 57

CHURUBUSCO 50

Churubusco (7-7) 17 11 11 11 - 50

Manchester (12-3) 16 18 8 15 - 57

Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.

Little 1-4 0-0 1 2 0 3###

Swan 6-10 7-14 1 1 5 22

Reimer 6-14 0-0 2 0 4 14

Shafer 1-3 1-1 0 0 3 3

Hendrix 0-2 2-2 0 0 1 2

Fawcett 1-2 0-2 1 0 7 3

Keffabler 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2

Betten 4-8 0-0 0 1 4 8

Totals 21-46 10-19 5 4 24 57

Churubusco FG FT A S R Pts.

Ford 4-10 2-2 1 1 0 8

Bohnstedt 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Green 1-1 2-2 0 1 2 4

Hyndman 4-6 0-0 2 0 4 8

Ott 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 2

Keister 7-11 3-6 1 0 6 17

Gordon 5-7 1-1 0 1 3 11

Kirkpatrick 0-0 1-1 0 0 1 0

Totals 22-39 9-12 4 5 18 50

Three-point goals -ÊManchester 5-7 (Reimer 2-3, Swan 1-2, Little 1-1, Fawcett 1-1), Churubusco 0-3 (Ford 0-2, Hyndman 0-1). Turnovers -ÊManchester 15, Churubusco 17. Total fouls -ÊManchester 14, Churubusco 15. Fouled out - Betten.

JV: Manchester 65, Churubusco 28

Manchester leading scorers: Klay Bechtold 15, Gary Young 12, Michael Poe 10. [[In-content Ad]]