NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester Lady Squires will play for a girls basketball sectional championship tonight.
Five-foot-6 senior Kennedy Fierstos made sure of it.
In a Class 2A Sectional 37 semifinal game Saturday night at Manchester High School, Fierstos poured in 20 points as the Lady Squires beat Cass 45-39.
Manchester, now 17-7 on the season, will play third-ranked Oak Hill (20-3) in tonight’s sectional final at 7:30 p.m.
Cass finished its season with a 1-22 record.
Oak Hill, looking for its third consecutive sectional title, advanced to the finals with a 51-20 win over Wabash in Saturday’s first semifinal game.
“I was so impressed by coach Mike Collins, his staff, and the players of Lewis Cass for how hard they played tonight. They deserve to be commended for how hard they played and executed tonight,” said Manchester coach Jake Everett, who has guided the Lady Squires to their first 17-win season since they were 20-5 under coach Mark Underwood during the 2006-07 campaign.
“As for our group, I am proud of the grit they showed to not have our best shooting performance and to grind out a tough win. The girls did what they needed to do to give themselves an opportunity to play for a sectional championship. I couldn’t be more proud of our grit, and we will look to bring that grit and bounce back against Oak Hill Monday night.”
To go with her 20 points, Fierstos pulled down three rebounds and added a steal and an assist.
Junior Kiera Hatfield finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists in the win, while sophomore Eva Bazzoni chipped in with six points, 10 boards, two assists, two steals and a block, and senior Jirni Cripe tallied three points, four boards and a steal.
Manchester led 17-10 after one quarter of play, but Cass trimmed the deficit to 25-22 by halftime.
Both teams scored nine points in the third quarter, and the hosts outscored Cass 11-8 in the final frame to account for the six-point win.
The Lady Squires take an eight-game win streak into the sectional finals, as they are looking for their first championship since 2007.
