NORTH MANCHESTER - After being held to just 14 points in the second half, Manchester's varsity boys basketball team fell 51-33 to Class 2A No. 10 Lewis Cass in Saturday's championship game of the Manchester Sectional.With the loss, the Squires finished their season with a 5-17 record. Cass improved to 18-5 and will play No. 4 Harding Saturday in the Blackford Regional. Second-ranked Northwestern (21-2) and Eastside (18-5) play in the other semifinal game.
Manchester held a 9-8 advantage over the Kings in Saturday-s sectional title game and led 19-18 at halftime.
The second half, however, was a different story.
Cass scored 14 points in the third quarter, doubling the offensive output of the host Squires, while Manchester scored just 14 points the entire second half.
The Kings outscored Manchester 19-7 in the fourth quarter to extend their winning margin to 18 points.
Neither team shot the ball all that well, with Manchester making good on 9 of 27 (33 percent) field goals, including a 4-of-12 performance from the three-point arc. The Squires did hit 11 of 12 free throws.
Cass was just 16 of 53 (30.2 percent) from the field overall and 4 of 21 from the three-point arc. The Kings converted 15 of 23 free throw attempts and outrebounded the Squires 33-25.
Manchester finished the game with 17 turnovers, nine of which were steals by Cass, while the Kings turned the ball over just five times.
Taylor Bowser led Cass with a game-high 16 points, while Garrett Seagraves added 15 and Kitt O'Brien scored seven points.
Bowser led Cass with eight rebounds.
For Manchester, Dan Bourne scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Aaron Medley scored eight points and Spenser Penrod contributed five points.
