NORTH MANCHESTER - After struggling through a two-win regular season, first-year coach Aaron Cripe and his Manchester High School varsity boys basketball team is ready for a fresh start.
The Squires will get one Tuesday when they play rival Wabash in the opening round of Class 2A Sectional 39 at Lewis Cass."We're ready to start a new season," said Cripe, whose Squires have lost nine straight games and take a 2-18 record into sectional play. "Our win-loss record isn't the best, but now we get to start a new season. We're looking forward to the challenge. I think the kids are excited to play Wabash. It's going to be a tough game. I think its going to be a good old-fashioned basketball game."
North Miami and Northfield open sectional play Tuesday at 6 p.m., followed by Manchester and Wabash.
Southwood will play either North Miami or Northfield in Friday's first semifinal game at 6 p.m., followed by Lewis Cass and either Manchester or Wabash.
Friday's winners will square off in the championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Tipton Regional to play the winner of the Bluffton Sectional.
North Miami and Northfield enter the state tournament with 14-6 records, while Northfield is 8-12, Cass is 7-13 and Wabash is 3-17.
Of Manchester's two wins this season, one of them came against Wabash.
The Squires hosted and defeated the Apaches 63-59 in a non-conference battle on Dec. 1.
Manchester's only other win, a 40-34 victory, came on Jan. 5 against non-IHSAA school Lakeland Christian Academy.
The Squires, who finished 0-7 this season in the Three Rivers Conference, fell 68-65 at Wabash on Jan. 15.
"Our defense came out really strong against Wabash last time, but then we kind of let up," said Cripe. "It's going to be really important that we play 32 minutes of defense. North Miami and Southwood are the teams to beat. We've lost to both of them. Northfield beat us, and Wabash has beat us. But every team gets a fresh start in the sectional, and we're looking forward to the challenge."
North Miami is 5-0 against the rest of the sectional field this season, having beat each of the other teams once, while Southwood is 5-1, with the loss coming to North Miami.
"We have to take care of the basketball," Cripe said when asked what are some of the things his team needs to do to be successful in the sectional. "We're a young team in a new system, but we've gone through the regular season now, so we can't say we're in a new system anymore. We have to take better shots and rebound the ball."
As a team, the Squires shot just 40 percent from the field overall, 33 percent from three-point range, and 61 percent from the free throw line.
Manchester averages 48 points per game and gives up an average of 71 points per game.
Scott Baker leads the Squires with 11 points and six rebounds per game, while Austin Flack scores nearly 10 points per contest.
Kyle Lahman, Connor McLaughlin and Austin Blankenship average five points per game each.
The Squires, who won two games in the regular season last year and then beat Wabash in the sectional, are looking for their first sectional championship since 1995.
