Lady Vikings Win At Manchester’s Senior NightNORTH MANCHESTER – Tippecanoe Valley played the ‘spoiler’ role Thursday evening, as Sydney Wagner dropped 21 points to defeat the Manchester Squires 62-32 in the Three Rivers Conference girls basketball finale for both teams.
“I thought Wagner had her typical, good, all-around game,” said Chris Kindig, head coach for the Vikings (16-6, 7-2). Wagner finished the evening with five assists, six rebounds, and three steals.
“We got off to a good start tonight,” continued Kindig. “We wanted to put some pressure on them. We came out strong in the third quarter and put them away.”
The Vikings enjoyed an early 15-4 run after just four minutes of play, highlighted by a four-point play from senior Jillian Walls. She earned nine points and five rebounds.
Thanks to the strong performances from Wagner and Walls, the Vikings post players had the freedom to succeed as well.
“I thought out post players also played better tonight,” said Kindig. “For instance, Haley Backus finished well around the basket.” Backus, a junior, had eight points and eight rebounds with seven rebounds coming in the second half.
For Manchester (6-16, 3-6), the night culminated in an avalanche of emotion for the four seniors. After being honored before the game, the Squire faithful took to their feet to deliver a standing ovation to Bailey Mooney, Ranissa Shambarger, Kiera Hatfield, and Mackenzie Day.
Shambarger, leading the charge for the seniors, tallied 10 points and three rebounds.
“They’re a great group of seniors,” said head coach Josh Troyer. “They put up with me when I first learned to coach on the girls side after moving over from the boys side.”
“I told them it’s hard for me to be emotional tonight, since I know I got at least another week with them,” he elaborated. “It’s special just because of how hard they play, the relationships we built, and the things we’ve gotten to share together. They’re getting ready to go into college, or into the workforce, and they’re going to be special wherever they go.”
Tippecanoe Valley’s performance Thursday evening capped its regular season with their tenth road win of the year, and their third straight victory. They face NorthWood (21-3, 7-0) in the Lakeland Sectional on Tuesday night.
After noting that his team is “starting to play well at the right time,” Kindig emphasized that NorthWood will be a tough challenge for the Vikings.
“We’re going to have to play four quarters of basketball,” said Kindig. “We can’t play two or three quarters and expect to beat NorthWood. They’re top five in the state, so we’re going to have to be focused and ready to play.”
Manchester are scheduled to battle Lewis Cass (2-19, 0-4) Tuesday night in Walton.
“Thankfully our first two matchups are much more post-play heavy,” said Troyer. “We’ll continue to work on our defense that keys in on that. We don’t have to face three girls that all hit more than 30 percent from the three-point line, so if we run into one of those (shooters) again, at least we’ve seen it once.”
