NORTH MANCHESTER - In its home opener, the Manchester High School girls basketball team got out early and never looked back Friday.
With five different girls scoring in the first four minutes of the game, the host Lady Squires (2-0) jumped out to a 12-0 lead and let that spurt carry them to a 68-43 win over the Mississinewa Lady Indians."I liked the way our kids played hard the whole game," Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. "The effort was definitely there."
Defensively, the Lady Squires recorded 19 steals, led by junior Malyssa Bedke's six and junior Meika Kennedy's four. Manchester also held a decisive 42-29 advantage on the boards, paced by junior Hannah Little's 11, but Underwood was still nitpicking his defense.
"We did have some defensive letdowns a couple times," he said. "We didn't get out and get our hands in the shooter's face. There were few times when we didn't block out and gave up offensive rebounds. That's just a cardinal sin."
Using a swarming defense, Underwood was cautious and kept his girls fresh, playing 12 girls in the first quarter, 10 by the 3:27 mark.
"We feel like we have some quickness and we want to try to press," he said. "No matter how good of shape you're in, you can't really full-court press for an entire game unless you have some depth. Being able to get some fresh people in there is going to be a big part of what we're going to try to do this year."
With all 13 girls getting into the game, nine got into the scoring column and junior Hannah Schmidt, sophomore Kayla Flack and Little each scored 13 points. Coming off the bench, junior Kaylee Watson chipped in another eight and Bedke scored seven.
"We feel if we have different people who can contribute and look to score, it's going to be tough on the defense," Underwood said. "They can't just focus in on one person. That balance will hopefully be something that helps us out."
At 2-0, the Lady Squires now prepare for two straight road games, beginning Tuesday at Winamac followed by a Nov. 27 game at Class 2A No. 8 Oak Hill.
"We've got a couple of tough contests coming up with Winamac and Oak Hill," Underwood said. "Both received state-ranking recognition. It's going to be a good test for us and we'll really need to be at our best to be able to compete with those teams."
