Whitko Boys Top Rival Manchester
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Midway through the second quarter, Manchester (1-9, 0-2 Three Rivers Conference) only trailed 22-20, but a 57-22 run by the Wildcats (6-5, 2-0 TRC) over the next two-and-a-half quarters resulted in a 79-42 TRC loss for the host Squires.[[In-content Ad]]"They're struggling, they're young and it's their coach's first year," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said about Manchester. "Right now, I think we have better players, so that eventually wore them down. The press got some turnovers and we made some baskets for a change."
Hitting most of those baskets for Whitko was sophomore Logan Irwin, scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while also dishing out a game-high seven assists.
Also filling the stat sheet for the Wildcats was junior Zac VanDeWater, who finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.
"Zac's starting to be a little more consistent," Irwin said of the 6-foot-5 VanDeWater. "He's getting his 13, 14, 15 points a game. We need him to rebound a little bit more, but he did a nice job of passing the ball today."
VanDeWater got his day started by finishing the first quarter with nine points, while also posting two rebounds and two assists.
"I thought VanDeWater did a really good job of hitting shots early," Manchester coach Aaron Cripe said. "If he's hitting three-point baskets, he's a really good basketball player - with his driving, his height and his athleticism."
Over the course of the season, Irwin has been getting points from Logan Irwin and VanDeWater, but he has wanted others to step up. On Saturday, they did.
Junior Max Elder scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, but junior reserve Kory Wood may have been the most pleasant surprise, scoring 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting and hauling in four rebounds.
"Kory Wood has three games under hit belt, but he still hasn't had enough practices really," Irwin said. "I think he's really going to help us."
On Manchester's side, junior Austin Flack led the way with 13 points, followed by junior Scott Baker's 12 points and eight rebounds.
"Those two are my leaders right now," Cripe said. "Everyone else is role players, and they hit their shots when they need to. They rebound, hustle and play defense. I thought Flack did a really good job of keeping his head and penetrating. Logan Irwin's a tough kid to play against."
The biggest contributor to the Squires loss was turnovers, as they committed 20 to Whitko's eight.
"If we make one mistake, it's like a snowball effect," Cripe said. "We need to cut that out. If we make one mistake, we need to really take care of the ball the next time."
Those turnovers were most evident in the second quarter when Manchester committed eight, allowing Whitko to turn the 22-20 lead into a 38-21 lead in a span of three minutes.
"I'm very proud of the way the guys started," Cripe said. "Down 22-20 against a very good Whitko team, that's proof enough. That's proof that we can play with anyone out there. I hope that's proof we can understand."
Cripe is working with a young team, but Irwin's is actually younger, featuring just one senior in Travis Lepper, who's been sitting out with an illness.
"We're just so young, and I don't think people realize that," Irwin said. "Yeah, we have a lot of guys back, but we also don't have a lot of guys back. We have two starters (sophomore Derek Snep and freshman Alex Stoddard) that never played last year on the varsity."
The win put an end to a three-game losing streak for the Wildcats, who are now 2-0 in the conference.
"You have to win the conference games, especially against teams you're supposed to beat," Irwin said. "We managed to do that."
Whitko is back in TRC action Saturday at Rochester, where the junior varsity tips off at 6:15 p.m.
Manchester's next game is Tuesday against a 2-8 Lakeland Christian Academy team that features the seven-foot Grace College-bound Adrian Makolli.
"There are no easy games this year," Cripe said. "We just need to go in and play hard every game. Hopefully, we do have a chance to get a win Tuesday night. It's going to be about taking care of the ball and rebounding. (LCA) has a seven-footer and two 6-foot-6 guys (Will Gross and Josh Remington), so we really need to box out and rebound well."
WHITKO 79, MANCHESTER 42
W 15 27 19 17 - 79
M 12 13 6 11 - 42
Whitko - Logan Irwin 7-13 6-7 21, Zac VanDeWater 5-14 3-4 16, Alex Stoddard 1-4 0-0 2, Max Elder 6-8 0-1 12, Derek Snep 0-0 4-4 4, Mitch Yeager 2-8 0-0 4, Travis Weigold 0-0 0-0 0, Colin Donner 2-4 0-0 4, Scott Skiles 0-0 0-0 0, Kory Wood 4-4 0-0 10, Kolten Krull 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 29-57 15-18 79.
Manchester - Aaron Olinger 0-5 1-2 1, Kyle Lahman 0-4 0-0 0, Austin Crockett 1-3 0-0 2, Scott Baker 2-4 8-8 12, Austin Flack 4-7 3-5 13, Logan Brunn 0-3 0-2 0, Trae Bruce 0-0 0-0 0, Connor McLaughlin 3-9 0-0 9, Coltin Jenks 0-0 1-2 1, Jacob Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Aric Howard 1-2 0-1 2, Skyler Dingess 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 12-43 13-20 42.
Three-point goals - Whitko 6-17 (VanDeWater 3, Wood 2, Irwin), Manchester 5-14 (McLaughlin 3, Flack 2); Team Fouls - Whitko 13, Manchester 16; Turnovers - Whitko 8, Manchester 20; Rebounds - Whitko 34 (VanDeWater 8), Manchester 30 (Baker 8, Dingess 7); Assists - Whitko 15 (Irwin 7, VanDeWater 6), Manchester 6 (Flack 3); Steals - Whitko 14 (VanDeWater 5), Manchester 3; Blocks - Whitko 2, Manchester 1; Records: Whitko 6-5 (2-0 TRC), Manchester 1-9 (0-2 TRC)
JV - Manchester 34, Whitko 30
Manchester - Brunn 4, Derek Self 12, Joey Spann 5, Caleb Thomas 9, Jenks 4
Whitko - Josh Smith 5, Jordan Sims 6, Trey Weber 10, Brent Busz 2, Krull 5, Weigold 2
Midway through the second quarter, Manchester (1-9, 0-2 Three Rivers Conference) only trailed 22-20, but a 57-22 run by the Wildcats (6-5, 2-0 TRC) over the next two-and-a-half quarters resulted in a 79-42 TRC loss for the host Squires.[[In-content Ad]]"They're struggling, they're young and it's their coach's first year," Whitko coach Rob Irwin said about Manchester. "Right now, I think we have better players, so that eventually wore them down. The press got some turnovers and we made some baskets for a change."
Hitting most of those baskets for Whitko was sophomore Logan Irwin, scoring 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while also dishing out a game-high seven assists.
Also filling the stat sheet for the Wildcats was junior Zac VanDeWater, who finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.
"Zac's starting to be a little more consistent," Irwin said of the 6-foot-5 VanDeWater. "He's getting his 13, 14, 15 points a game. We need him to rebound a little bit more, but he did a nice job of passing the ball today."
VanDeWater got his day started by finishing the first quarter with nine points, while also posting two rebounds and two assists.
"I thought VanDeWater did a really good job of hitting shots early," Manchester coach Aaron Cripe said. "If he's hitting three-point baskets, he's a really good basketball player - with his driving, his height and his athleticism."
Over the course of the season, Irwin has been getting points from Logan Irwin and VanDeWater, but he has wanted others to step up. On Saturday, they did.
Junior Max Elder scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, but junior reserve Kory Wood may have been the most pleasant surprise, scoring 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting and hauling in four rebounds.
"Kory Wood has three games under hit belt, but he still hasn't had enough practices really," Irwin said. "I think he's really going to help us."
On Manchester's side, junior Austin Flack led the way with 13 points, followed by junior Scott Baker's 12 points and eight rebounds.
"Those two are my leaders right now," Cripe said. "Everyone else is role players, and they hit their shots when they need to. They rebound, hustle and play defense. I thought Flack did a really good job of keeping his head and penetrating. Logan Irwin's a tough kid to play against."
The biggest contributor to the Squires loss was turnovers, as they committed 20 to Whitko's eight.
"If we make one mistake, it's like a snowball effect," Cripe said. "We need to cut that out. If we make one mistake, we need to really take care of the ball the next time."
Those turnovers were most evident in the second quarter when Manchester committed eight, allowing Whitko to turn the 22-20 lead into a 38-21 lead in a span of three minutes.
"I'm very proud of the way the guys started," Cripe said. "Down 22-20 against a very good Whitko team, that's proof enough. That's proof that we can play with anyone out there. I hope that's proof we can understand."
Cripe is working with a young team, but Irwin's is actually younger, featuring just one senior in Travis Lepper, who's been sitting out with an illness.
"We're just so young, and I don't think people realize that," Irwin said. "Yeah, we have a lot of guys back, but we also don't have a lot of guys back. We have two starters (sophomore Derek Snep and freshman Alex Stoddard) that never played last year on the varsity."
The win put an end to a three-game losing streak for the Wildcats, who are now 2-0 in the conference.
"You have to win the conference games, especially against teams you're supposed to beat," Irwin said. "We managed to do that."
Whitko is back in TRC action Saturday at Rochester, where the junior varsity tips off at 6:15 p.m.
Manchester's next game is Tuesday against a 2-8 Lakeland Christian Academy team that features the seven-foot Grace College-bound Adrian Makolli.
"There are no easy games this year," Cripe said. "We just need to go in and play hard every game. Hopefully, we do have a chance to get a win Tuesday night. It's going to be about taking care of the ball and rebounding. (LCA) has a seven-footer and two 6-foot-6 guys (Will Gross and Josh Remington), so we really need to box out and rebound well."
WHITKO 79, MANCHESTER 42
W 15 27 19 17 - 79
M 12 13 6 11 - 42
Whitko - Logan Irwin 7-13 6-7 21, Zac VanDeWater 5-14 3-4 16, Alex Stoddard 1-4 0-0 2, Max Elder 6-8 0-1 12, Derek Snep 0-0 4-4 4, Mitch Yeager 2-8 0-0 4, Travis Weigold 0-0 0-0 0, Colin Donner 2-4 0-0 4, Scott Skiles 0-0 0-0 0, Kory Wood 4-4 0-0 10, Kolten Krull 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 29-57 15-18 79.
Manchester - Aaron Olinger 0-5 1-2 1, Kyle Lahman 0-4 0-0 0, Austin Crockett 1-3 0-0 2, Scott Baker 2-4 8-8 12, Austin Flack 4-7 3-5 13, Logan Brunn 0-3 0-2 0, Trae Bruce 0-0 0-0 0, Connor McLaughlin 3-9 0-0 9, Coltin Jenks 0-0 1-2 1, Jacob Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Aric Howard 1-2 0-1 2, Skyler Dingess 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 12-43 13-20 42.
Three-point goals - Whitko 6-17 (VanDeWater 3, Wood 2, Irwin), Manchester 5-14 (McLaughlin 3, Flack 2); Team Fouls - Whitko 13, Manchester 16; Turnovers - Whitko 8, Manchester 20; Rebounds - Whitko 34 (VanDeWater 8), Manchester 30 (Baker 8, Dingess 7); Assists - Whitko 15 (Irwin 7, VanDeWater 6), Manchester 6 (Flack 3); Steals - Whitko 14 (VanDeWater 5), Manchester 3; Blocks - Whitko 2, Manchester 1; Records: Whitko 6-5 (2-0 TRC), Manchester 1-9 (0-2 TRC)
JV - Manchester 34, Whitko 30
Manchester - Brunn 4, Derek Self 12, Joey Spann 5, Caleb Thomas 9, Jenks 4
Whitko - Josh Smith 5, Jordan Sims 6, Trey Weber 10, Brent Busz 2, Krull 5, Weigold 2
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