Squires Slay Scrappy Dragons

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Anthony [email protected]

NORTH MANCHESTER — Quiet for three quarters, Manchester senior Claudel Dickantone’s play spoke loudest when his team needed it Tuesday night.
Converting just 1 of 8 field goals going into the fourth quarter, Dickantone netted eight points in the final 6:43, helping the Manchester boys basketball team take down Argos, 42-40.
Dickantone finished the game with 11 points and classmate Clayton Petrie netted nine, while sophomore Chase Fierstos had 14, with his last two being a driving layup with 39 seconds remaining, giving his team the 42-40 lead.
“The captains stepped up and did a really good job in the final three minutes,” Manchester coach Eric Thompson said. “We did what we had to do to beat a scrappy team that was here to beat us.”
Things appeared to be pretty comfortable for Manchester (14-5) after it took a 26-18 lead with 5:09 remaining in the third quarter.
With his tream trailing by eight points, Argos coach Doug Snyder took a timeout, and his team came out to outscore Manchester 15-6 over the next seven minutes, nabbing a 33-32 lead with 7:04 to play.
“In all the tapes I’ve seen of them, coach (Doug) Snyder has them prepared,” Thompson said. “They go really hard. They outhustled us for most of the night, until the final three minutes. It was a dogfight.”
Going back and forth down the stretch, Argos took its final lead, 40-38, on a three-pointer by senior Dominic Cataldo.
The trey completed a 5-of-6 shooting night for Cataldo from behind the arc, as he scored a game-high 18 points and also had seven rebounds and two blocks.
“Cataldo, he can score, and he was hitting tonight,” Thompson said. “I don’t think he missed very many threes tonight.”
Dickantone knotted the game with a steal and layup with 2:30 to play, then both teams went scoreless the next two minutes.
Following an Argos turnover, Fierstos gave the home team the lead with his layup, and then the Dragons turned the ball over on its next possession.
Regaining possession with time waning, Fierstos was fouled, but missed the first of a one-and-one situation.
With  just ticks left on the clock, all Argos could do was heave the ball down the court on an inbound play, but it was intercepted as time expired.
In all, Argos turned the ball over on four of its five possessions following the Cataldo three-pointer.
While Argos was struggling to get a shot in the final stages, Thompson was pleased with his team’s execution.
“In the final three minutes, we looked like the old Manchester team that was really moving the ball,” Thompson said. “Everybody was doing their role on offense. The passes were on target and we had some purpose.”
In his first two seasons at Manchester, Thompson coached the team to an 11-32 mark, but the turnaround seems to be almost complete now.
The 14 wins are the most at Manchester since Gary Goshert’s 1998-99 team went 15-7, and the Squires have a chance to match that win total Friday night at home against Garrett (14-6).
“These guys put in a lot of time,” Thompson said of his team. “They deserve what they’re accomplishing and the sky’s the limit for this group. We have this back on track and we’ll try to produce Friday night.”

MANCHESTER 42, ARGOS 40
A    5    11    15    9    –    40
M    10    11    11    10    –    42
Manchester – Chase Fierstos 5-9 1-3 14, Braydon Sewell 1-2 0-0 2, Claudel Dickantone 3-13 5-5 11, Phoenix Goad 1-3 0-0 2, Clayton Petrie 2-10 5-7 9, Branden Scott 0-0 2-2 2, Cameron Brandenburg 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Schilling 0-1 0-0 0, Micah McDaniel 1-2 0-0 2, Keelan Norwood 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 13-18 42.
Argos – Taylor Ogle 0-7 2-2 2, Dominic Cataldo 5-13 3-4 18, Casey Johnson 2-3 3-6 7, Brian Snyder 0-3 0-0 0, Ben Carter 1-4 0-1 2, Javan Miller 2-6 4-8 8, Taylor O’Dell 1-1 1-1 3, Jordan Norris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 13-22 40.
Three-pointers – Manchester 3-14 (Fierstos 3), Argos 5-11 (Cataldo 5); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Manchester 22 (Goad), Argos 18; Turnovers – Manchester 14, Argos 16; Rebounds – Manchester 30 (Petrie 9), Argos 30 (Ogle 11); Assists – Manchester 5 (Sewell 4), Argos 7 (Ogle 6); Steals – Manchester 5 (Fierstos 2, Dickantone 2), Argos 5 (Miller 3); Blocks – Manchester 0, Argos 5 (Cataldo 2, Carter 2); Records: Manchester 14-5, Argos 11-7.
JV – Manchester 31, Argos 18[[In-content Ad]]

NORTH MANCHESTER — Quiet for three quarters, Manchester senior Claudel Dickantone’s play spoke loudest when his team needed it Tuesday night.
Converting just 1 of 8 field goals going into the fourth quarter, Dickantone netted eight points in the final 6:43, helping the Manchester boys basketball team take down Argos, 42-40.
Dickantone finished the game with 11 points and classmate Clayton Petrie netted nine, while sophomore Chase Fierstos had 14, with his last two being a driving layup with 39 seconds remaining, giving his team the 42-40 lead.
“The captains stepped up and did a really good job in the final three minutes,” Manchester coach Eric Thompson said. “We did what we had to do to beat a scrappy team that was here to beat us.”
Things appeared to be pretty comfortable for Manchester (14-5) after it took a 26-18 lead with 5:09 remaining in the third quarter.
With his tream trailing by eight points, Argos coach Doug Snyder took a timeout, and his team came out to outscore Manchester 15-6 over the next seven minutes, nabbing a 33-32 lead with 7:04 to play.
“In all the tapes I’ve seen of them, coach (Doug) Snyder has them prepared,” Thompson said. “They go really hard. They outhustled us for most of the night, until the final three minutes. It was a dogfight.”
Going back and forth down the stretch, Argos took its final lead, 40-38, on a three-pointer by senior Dominic Cataldo.
The trey completed a 5-of-6 shooting night for Cataldo from behind the arc, as he scored a game-high 18 points and also had seven rebounds and two blocks.
“Cataldo, he can score, and he was hitting tonight,” Thompson said. “I don’t think he missed very many threes tonight.”
Dickantone knotted the game with a steal and layup with 2:30 to play, then both teams went scoreless the next two minutes.
Following an Argos turnover, Fierstos gave the home team the lead with his layup, and then the Dragons turned the ball over on its next possession.
Regaining possession with time waning, Fierstos was fouled, but missed the first of a one-and-one situation.
With  just ticks left on the clock, all Argos could do was heave the ball down the court on an inbound play, but it was intercepted as time expired.
In all, Argos turned the ball over on four of its five possessions following the Cataldo three-pointer.
While Argos was struggling to get a shot in the final stages, Thompson was pleased with his team’s execution.
“In the final three minutes, we looked like the old Manchester team that was really moving the ball,” Thompson said. “Everybody was doing their role on offense. The passes were on target and we had some purpose.”
In his first two seasons at Manchester, Thompson coached the team to an 11-32 mark, but the turnaround seems to be almost complete now.
The 14 wins are the most at Manchester since Gary Goshert’s 1998-99 team went 15-7, and the Squires have a chance to match that win total Friday night at home against Garrett (14-6).
“These guys put in a lot of time,” Thompson said of his team. “They deserve what they’re accomplishing and the sky’s the limit for this group. We have this back on track and we’ll try to produce Friday night.”

MANCHESTER 42, ARGOS 40
A    5    11    15    9    –    40
M    10    11    11    10    –    42
Manchester – Chase Fierstos 5-9 1-3 14, Braydon Sewell 1-2 0-0 2, Claudel Dickantone 3-13 5-5 11, Phoenix Goad 1-3 0-0 2, Clayton Petrie 2-10 5-7 9, Branden Scott 0-0 2-2 2, Cameron Brandenburg 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Schilling 0-1 0-0 0, Micah McDaniel 1-2 0-0 2, Keelan Norwood 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 13-18 42.
Argos – Taylor Ogle 0-7 2-2 2, Dominic Cataldo 5-13 3-4 18, Casey Johnson 2-3 3-6 7, Brian Snyder 0-3 0-0 0, Ben Carter 1-4 0-1 2, Javan Miller 2-6 4-8 8, Taylor O’Dell 1-1 1-1 3, Jordan Norris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-37 13-22 40.
Three-pointers – Manchester 3-14 (Fierstos 3), Argos 5-11 (Cataldo 5); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Manchester 22 (Goad), Argos 18; Turnovers – Manchester 14, Argos 16; Rebounds – Manchester 30 (Petrie 9), Argos 30 (Ogle 11); Assists – Manchester 5 (Sewell 4), Argos 7 (Ogle 6); Steals – Manchester 5 (Fierstos 2, Dickantone 2), Argos 5 (Miller 3); Blocks – Manchester 0, Argos 5 (Cataldo 2, Carter 2); Records: Manchester 14-5, Argos 11-7.
JV – Manchester 31, Argos 18[[In-content Ad]]
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