Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WABASH - Wabash varsity girls basketball coach Glen Cunningham called it the hammer defense - anyone that got near the paint, he wanted this defense to change their direction.
This is the defense Wabash used Saturday against Manchester senior Jessica Hicks, a 5-foot-10 senior that averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game a year ago.
Holding the St. Francis recruit scoreless from the field, Wabash topped the Squires 54-44.
Both teams are now 2-2 on the season. Wabash has won 10 games since the 1998-99 campaign.
"You can't say enough about Jessica Hicks," Cunningham said. "She drew some fouls. We knew we would foul her, it's hard not to when you're playing aggressive."
Despite a dismal 0-of-7 performance from the field, Hicks connected on 11 of 14 free throw attempts and was Manchester's second-leading scorer. She also pulled down nine rebounds.
Junior guard Heather Terflinger led the Squire scoring attack with 12 points, while junior forward Ann Harms chipped in with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Just as Hicks struggled, Jenny Dawes, Wabash's main offensive threat, was on top of her game.
The 5-8 guard led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-4 performance beyond the arc. She was also 4 of 7 at the charity stripe. Senior Sarah Dyer added 10 points and four rebounds, while freshman Abby Schuler scored six points, all from beyond the arc.
"Schuler is a pure shooter," Cunningham said. "She just needs confidence. Jenny is a big-time player, we look to her as many times as we can. We work real hard to get her open."
After Dawes, the rest of the Apaches were 10 of 34 from the field.
"I thought we played pretty good defense," Manchester coach Mike Parker said. "They just outplayed us, they hustled more. We got beat up on the boards and we had poor shooting in the first half, that's a pretty good formula for getting drilled. Our shot selection was good, nothing just went in."
The Squires shot 7 of 28 (25 percent) from the field in the first half, while the Apaches were 12 of 27 (44.4 percent).
Wabash took a 13-8 lead after one quarter of play and led 32-19 at halftime.
The Squires cut the lead to 10, 37-27, with 1:41 left in the third when senior Carrie White scored her only field goal of the game. Wabash led 39-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Dawes hit her fourth trey of the game to start the scoring in the final frame, and then hit a field goal 26 seconds after a pair of Hicks free throws to give Wabash a 44-31 lead.
A Harms field goal with 1:27 remaining in the game cut the deficit to nine, 49-40, but a pair of Dawes free throws with 1:25 left, and two more by Dyer with 1:02 left gave Wabash a 53-40 lead.
"I think we played harder in the second half," Parker said. "We didn't change the offense any, the girls just looked afraid to shoot."
Manchester was 5 of 22 from the field in the second half.
Manchester will host Lewis Cass Tuesday.
WABASH 54, MANCHESTER 44
Manchester (2-2) 8 11 10 15 - 44
Wabash (2-2) 13 19 7 15 - 54
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
Terflinger (G) 5-11 2-7 7 4 12
Jester (G) 0-6 2-2 0 0 2
Harms (F) 4-13 2-4 11 2 10
Hicks (F) 0-7 11-14 9 1 11
White (F) 1-3 1-4 2 1 3
Keffaber 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Brubaker 0-0 0-2 1 0 0
Rager 1-7 2-2 3 0 4
Totals 12-50 20-35 33 8 44
Wabash FG FT R S Pts.
S. Dyer (F) 3-4 4-4 4 1 10
E. Dyer (G) 0-2 1-2 2 0 1
Lambert (F) 2-5 0-1 5 2 4
Dawes (G) 7-10 4-7 1 1 22
Randas (C) 1-6 3-4 7 1 5
Miller 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Schuler 2-6 0-0 3 0 6
Lester 2-6 0-0 5 0 4
Brackenhamer 0-3 0-0 1 1 0
Harness 0-1 2-2 2 0 2
Totals 17-44 14-20 30 6 54
Three-point goals - Manchester 0, Wabash 6 (Dawes 4, Schuler 2). Turnovers - Manchester 11, Wabash 15. Fouls - Manchester 20, Wabash 25. Fouled out - White, Hicks, S. Dyer, Lambert.
