Squires Stall In Southwood Rematch
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
If the Squires were to capture the county championship for the fourth time in the 1990s, they would have to fend off 5-1 Southwood, a team Manchester defeated 84-66 earlier in the year.
With the tournament's location rotating each year among the four teams, Manchester had the advantage of playing on its home floor, but in the end it was Southwood who held the advantage as the Knights improved their record to 6-1 with a 59-53 victory. The loss was the first of the season for the Squires (6-1), who won their first six games by an average of nearly 17 points.
Paul Wright led the Knights with a game-high 24-point performance. Eric Swan tallied 20 points to lead the Squires.
"Playing in that kind of situation has you wondering how you're going to react," said Manchester coach Gary Goshert about his team's first loss. "Part of that's our fault, the players and coaches. Give Southwood credit. I thought they hustled and penetrated our defense. They worked hard, they outworked us tonight. We didn't react the way I wanted to down the stretch."
Manchester started the game the way Goshert wanted as his team jumped out to an early 6-0 run to take a 14-10 lead into the second stanza. Tom Wright scored six points in the opening frame on two three-pointers.
"I think the score was 9-2 at one point," said Goshert. "We missed a couple of shots and some little things happened that I thought would have made things different."
Southwood's Clint Marshall scored the first points of the second quarter to draw the Knights within two at 14-12. A Swan free throw pushed the Manchester lead back to three, but the Squires couldn't pull away, and the two teams battled back and forth for the remaining 6-1/2 minutes of the half. Southwood took a slim 24-23 lead into the locker room.
The contest continued to see-saw throughout the third frame with neither team building a lead larger than three points. And that was the lead the Knights held after three quarters of play, 39-36.
The final frame belonged to Paul Wright. Wright scored nine points in the fourth quarter and and 17 in the second half. It was Wright's performance and poise down the stretch that carried Southwood. He connected on 6 of 6 free throws in the final frame. Southwood made 10 of 12 foul shots for the game.
"No doubt about it," said Goshert. "We couldn't stop him. We didn't defend well. It wasn't just him but it's our fault. Give them credit, they were agressive down the stretch."
Manchester (6-1) will play Wabash in the 4:30 consolation game today, Southwood (6-1) will play Northfield (3-4) in the championship game, set to tip off at 8:30.
Southwood, which has won the tournament three times, last won it in 1985.
SOUTHWOOD 59 MANCHESTER 53
Southwood 10 14 15 20-59
Manchester 14 9 13 17-53
Southwood FG FT R Pts
P. Wright (F) 8-14 6-6 1 24
T. Wright (F) 4-5 0-0 3 11
D. Marshall (G) 2-2 2-2 3 6
C. Marshall 3-6 0-0 3 6
Dawson (C) 3-4 0-0 6 6
Perigo (G) 1-3 1-2 0 3
Zellers 1-2 0-1 0 2
Ehret 0-4 1-1 2 1
Kaufman 0-1 0-0 0 0
Eltzroth 0-0 0-0 0 0
Gibson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-41 10-12 17 59
Manchester FG FT R Pts
Swan (F) 7-19 5-8 7 20
Shafer 5-6 0-0 2 10
Reimer (G) 3-7 0-0 1 8
Fawcett (F) 3-4 0-0 2 6
Betten (C) 2-4 1-1 5 5
Little 2-4 0-0 1 4
Hendrix 0-1 0-0 2 0
Keffaber 0-1 0-0 1 0
Lochner 0-0 0-0 0 0
Young 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-46 6-9 22 53
Three-pointers - Southwood 5 (T. Wright 3, P. Wright 2), Manchester 4 (Swan 2, Reimer 2). Turnovers - Southwood 10, Manchester 12. Fouls - Southwood 13, Manchester 18.
Referees - Jack Urbin, Ron Stevens [[In-content Ad]]
If the Squires were to capture the county championship for the fourth time in the 1990s, they would have to fend off 5-1 Southwood, a team Manchester defeated 84-66 earlier in the year.
With the tournament's location rotating each year among the four teams, Manchester had the advantage of playing on its home floor, but in the end it was Southwood who held the advantage as the Knights improved their record to 6-1 with a 59-53 victory. The loss was the first of the season for the Squires (6-1), who won their first six games by an average of nearly 17 points.
Paul Wright led the Knights with a game-high 24-point performance. Eric Swan tallied 20 points to lead the Squires.
"Playing in that kind of situation has you wondering how you're going to react," said Manchester coach Gary Goshert about his team's first loss. "Part of that's our fault, the players and coaches. Give Southwood credit. I thought they hustled and penetrated our defense. They worked hard, they outworked us tonight. We didn't react the way I wanted to down the stretch."
Manchester started the game the way Goshert wanted as his team jumped out to an early 6-0 run to take a 14-10 lead into the second stanza. Tom Wright scored six points in the opening frame on two three-pointers.
"I think the score was 9-2 at one point," said Goshert. "We missed a couple of shots and some little things happened that I thought would have made things different."
Southwood's Clint Marshall scored the first points of the second quarter to draw the Knights within two at 14-12. A Swan free throw pushed the Manchester lead back to three, but the Squires couldn't pull away, and the two teams battled back and forth for the remaining 6-1/2 minutes of the half. Southwood took a slim 24-23 lead into the locker room.
The contest continued to see-saw throughout the third frame with neither team building a lead larger than three points. And that was the lead the Knights held after three quarters of play, 39-36.
The final frame belonged to Paul Wright. Wright scored nine points in the fourth quarter and and 17 in the second half. It was Wright's performance and poise down the stretch that carried Southwood. He connected on 6 of 6 free throws in the final frame. Southwood made 10 of 12 foul shots for the game.
"No doubt about it," said Goshert. "We couldn't stop him. We didn't defend well. It wasn't just him but it's our fault. Give them credit, they were agressive down the stretch."
Manchester (6-1) will play Wabash in the 4:30 consolation game today, Southwood (6-1) will play Northfield (3-4) in the championship game, set to tip off at 8:30.
Southwood, which has won the tournament three times, last won it in 1985.
SOUTHWOOD 59 MANCHESTER 53
Southwood 10 14 15 20-59
Manchester 14 9 13 17-53
Southwood FG FT R Pts
P. Wright (F) 8-14 6-6 1 24
T. Wright (F) 4-5 0-0 3 11
D. Marshall (G) 2-2 2-2 3 6
C. Marshall 3-6 0-0 3 6
Dawson (C) 3-4 0-0 6 6
Perigo (G) 1-3 1-2 0 3
Zellers 1-2 0-1 0 2
Ehret 0-4 1-1 2 1
Kaufman 0-1 0-0 0 0
Eltzroth 0-0 0-0 0 0
Gibson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-41 10-12 17 59
Manchester FG FT R Pts
Swan (F) 7-19 5-8 7 20
Shafer 5-6 0-0 2 10
Reimer (G) 3-7 0-0 1 8
Fawcett (F) 3-4 0-0 2 6
Betten (C) 2-4 1-1 5 5
Little 2-4 0-0 1 4
Hendrix 0-1 0-0 2 0
Keffaber 0-1 0-0 1 0
Lochner 0-0 0-0 0 0
Young 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-46 6-9 22 53
Three-pointers - Southwood 5 (T. Wright 3, P. Wright 2), Manchester 4 (Swan 2, Reimer 2). Turnovers - Southwood 10, Manchester 12. Fouls - Southwood 13, Manchester 18.
Referees - Jack Urbin, Ron Stevens [[In-content Ad]]