AKRON – Although Manchester and Tippecanoe Valley are having opposite seasons, both were needing a win after recent losses heading into Friday night’s Three Rivers Conference game in Akron. The night belonged to Chase Fierstos and the Squires. Fierstos scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Manchester Squires to a 61-50 victory over the host Vikings. Fierstos went 6 of 16 from the floor, despite turning the ball over five times. Koehl Fluke added 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting, and David McAtee was 4 of 6 for 10 points as the Squires (11-5 overall, 4-2 TRC) displayed a well-balanced offense. “It was real balanced,” said Manchester head coach Eric Thompson. “All of our guys who scored around 10 all chipped in big buckets when we needed them. It was a full team effort.” The Squires were good for 48.7 percent shooting as a team, and it was the effort and bounce-back win Thompson’s team needed after being drubbed 84-58 by Maconaquah earlier in the week. “Maconaquah is quite a team in our conference, and we didn’t play up to the ability of what we are capable of against them,” said Thompson. “We had to come out and try to get it done tonight. Guys were really focused in practice. After the loss, it hurt badly and we wanted to get the pain away. Luckily, we played the way we did tonight.” The Squires got off to a hot start, outscoring the Vikings 21-8 in the opening quarter. Valley would rally furiously to get within a point of the Squires late in the second quarter, but gave up a big three just before halftime. As for Valley (5-11 overall, 3-3 TRC), Alec Craig led the team with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Jarod Duzenbery scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Neil Clampitt added eight points of his own, along with nine rebounds in the loss. Turnovers proved critical for Valley. The Vikings committed 15 turnovers to Manchester’s 12. “There was some big turnovers and we gave up a big three right before the half when we were down one,” Valley coach Bill Patrick said. Thompson thought his guys could have cut back on the turnovers too, but was happy that they adjusted in the second half. “Most of those turnovers came in the second quarter,” Thompson said. “We had guys sitting in foul trouble. Once they got their composure and did things the right way, the Squire way, good things happened for us.” The third quarter was lackluster when it came to scoring, but it was tougher for Valley as the Vikings were outscored 12-2 in the period. “Third quarter, we didn’t come out and play hard and didn’t take the ball to the basket, as we only scored two points in the quarter,” Patrick said. “That was probably the key to the game. We got outrebounded in the second half. They just played a little harder than we did.” Tippecanoe Valley will look to end its four-game skid Thursday when it travels to Wabash. Patrick says they have to be focused when they return to practice. “We’ve got to cut down on our turnovers and we need to shoot the ball better,” Patrick said. “Manchester scored 11 points off our turnovers, so that’s a possible 11 or 12 we could have had.” Manchester, which has won eight of its last nine games, will take on Northfield Thursday.
MANCHESTER 61, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 50 Man 21 8 15 17 – 61 TV 8 19 3 20 – 50 Manchester – Chase Fierstos 6-16 16-19 29, Braydon Sewell 2-3 0-0 4, Mason Hamby 0-1 0-0 0, David McAtee 4-6 1-3 10, Koehl Fluke 5-12 1-2 11, Jake Schanepp 0-0 0-0 0, Kane Gable 0-0 0-0 0, Keelan Norwood 1-1 0-0 2, Matthew Pegg 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-41 18-24 61. Valley – Brandon Webster 1-5 0-0 2, Trevor Neeley 0-3 0-0 0, Keith Wright 2-7 2-6 6, DJ Heckaman 0-0 0-0 0, Alec Craig 6-13 4-4 17, Gavin Bussard 2-6 0-0 4, Neil Clampitt 3-7 0-0 8, Jarod Duzenberry 3-7 4-4 10, Bryce Webster 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-50 9-9 50. Three-pointers – Manchester 3 (Fierstos, McAtee), Valley 5 (Wright 2, Clampitt 2, Craig); Rebounds – Manchester 28 (Sewell), Valley 25 (Clampitt 9); Turnovers – Manchester 12, Valley 15; Fouls – Manchester 17, Valley 22; Fouled out – Craig, Duzenbery.
