NORTH MANCHESTER - Gatorade may want to become an official sponsor of the Manchester Squires girls basketball team.

The sports drink has been flowing in North Manchester this week in preparation for the Squires run at a regional crown.

"I've talked to a lot of coaches about playing in a regional and they said that one thing that is often over-looked is keeping your team hydrated," said Manchester head coach Mark Underwood.

So it's safe to say that Manchester is leaving nothing to chance.

The Squires play the second game of the South Adams regional Saturday at noon against Taylor (20-3).

Prairie Heights (7-15) and Fort Wayne Harding (14-7) play in the day's first game at 10 a.m.

The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Manchester (21-2) was ranked seventh in the final 2A poll of the season while Taylor finished ranked third.

While both teams have had similar success, they couldn't play more dissimilarly.

Manchester is ranked second in the state in points per game allowed with 34.8 just behind Plymouth at 34.6.

Taylor, a team that starts four guards, plays a run-and-gun style that sees the Titans average 63.4 points per game.

"We're not real big but we're as athletic and quick as any team in the state," said 12th-year Taylor head coach Dennis Bentzler. "(Manchester) is very deliberate and very fundamentally sound."

While Taylor averages more than 60 points a game, in Underwood's five years as head coach at Manchester, the Squires have given up 60 or more points just four times.

The most points Manchester has allowed this season was in a 65-52 win over Oak Hill January 14.

During the past two seasons, a time in which the Squires have gone 40-5, the Squires haven't allowed more than 55 points.

"If we get into a game that's in the 60s or 70s the chances of us winning is a lot less," said Underwood. "What its going to come down to is whether we're closer to holding them to what we usually give up or whether they score closer to their average."

Taylor enters the contest as a slight favorite to win the regional. The Titans won last year's regional and return four of their five starters from last year and 10 of their 12 rostered players.

The Titans are led in scoring by guard Morgan McWhorter at 14.8 points per game. McWhorter also average 3.6 steals per game.

Taylor forward Jamie Dunlap averages 10.2 points per game.

Manchester fails to boast a player who averages double digits in scoring. Forward Libby Pattison averages 9.7 points per game while 5-foot-7 guard Audrey Siebrase averages 7.8 points per game. Center Christa Peden averages 7.6 points per game.

The trio of talented juniors exemplifies how the Squires truly personify team.

Underwood stated after his team's impressive 44-19 win over North Miami in the Northfield sectional final Saturday, that he had players, who if on other teams, would average 20 points per game.

Pattison, Siebrase and Peden all have the potential to score more points. But a 20-point per game scorer doesn't really fit into what Manchester does.

The Squires have molded their identity of being a defensive squad and that's the image they feel most comfortable with.

"They've really taken to playing defense," said Underwood. "Because it's not an individual thing. They play defense as a team."

That team concept has shown itself off the court as well. Senior guard Casey Thomas had as she said a "rough week" after the passing of her grandmother.

"The only reason I'm doing as well as I'm doing is because of my teammates," said Thomas.

And it's that sort of willingness to come to the aid of a teammate that has made the Squires such a formidable team.

Manchester's team unity and more so it's team defense will be tested by Taylor Saturday.

And what do the Squire players know about the Titans?

"We know they're good," said senior guard Sarah Purdy with a chuckle. "We know we'll have to play our style to win." [[In-content Ad]]