Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester Squires and Whitko Wildcats met in a Three Rivers Conference girls basketball battle Friday night. Manchester used a 7-0 run to finish the second quarter en route to a 50-35 win over the visiting Wildcats.
Going into the game, Manchester and Whitko were tied with Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley for first place in the conference. The Squires came into the game ranked seventh in the state in Class 2A.
Whitko scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer by Ashley Hoopingarner. Manchester went on to score the next eight points and never trailed the rest of the game.
"We took them out of their game and played good defense," said Manchester coach Mark Underwood. "We also fouled a lot in the first half going for the ball and slapping hands. In the first half, the fouls were very lopsided. I think we had 10 and Whitko had two. Normally, I would probably be on the officials, but I could see we were fouling them too much while going for the ball. We need to work on that."
The win improved Manchester to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the TRC. Whitko fell to 4-4 and 1-1.
"Manchester just did a terrific job on defense tonight," said first-year Whitko coach Rob Bell. "They are experienced and know how to play basketball. Coach Underwood has done a great job with this program."
In the second quarter, the Wildcat defense held Manchester scoreless until when Audrey Siebrase hit a three-point jumper with 3:38 to play in the half. Whitko closed the gap to 18-13, but Manchester finished the half with the 7-0 run.
"We just couldn't get the ball inside tonight," said Bell. "They were all over us. We try to play more of a finesse type of game when the opposing team is bigger than we are. They have a lot of seniors and they understand what it takes to win games."
Whitko cut the lead to 31-20 in the third after Emily Bidwell drove the lane and scored on an easy lay up. The Wildcats were never got any closer.
"I am proud of how our team played tonight," said Underwood. "I think they do a good job every game."
Manchester ran into some early foul trouble when Christa Peden and Katie Bowers were whistled for two quick fouls that led them to sit on the bench for much of the first half. Peden fouled out late in the game. Bowers finished with three fouls.
"Manchester has such a presence inside that if we could have gotten Peden and Bowers to foul out earlier, who knows, we may have had a better chance," said Bell. "It was a hard game to play for our team. These are the type of games you learn from. We will continue to improve."
Siebrase led all scorers with 14 points. She also added two rebounds and a steal.
Holly Vogel and Bowers scored 11 points each. Bowers finished the game 5 of 7 from the floor. Libby Pattison chipped in six points and also pulled down 14 rebounds.
"You have to give credit to Whitko," said Underwood. "They played a hard game. Coach Bell has done a good job there. He has them winning some ballgames."
Whitko is just one win away from mathing their win total of last year when the Wildcats finished the season with a 5-16 record.
Hoopingarner led the Wildcats with 10 points. Jenneca Juillerat added seven points and Veronica Jersey threw in six.
Manchester is in action again Friday when it hosts Southwood. Whitko is at West Noble Thursday.
MANCHESTER 50, WHITKO 35
Whitko 8 5 8 13 - 35
Manch 15 10 10 15 - 50
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
*Hpngarner 3-8 2-4 2 1 10
*Wendel 1-3 2-4 1 0 4
*Westness 2-9 1-3 5 0 5
*Juillerat 2-7 1-3 1 1 7
*Jersey 1-3 4-6 6 1 6
Shepherd 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
VanHoozen 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Bidwell 1-4 1-2 3 0 3
Winger 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 10-35 11-22 21 3 35
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
*Pattison 2-8 3-5 14 0 7
*Siebrase 6-10 0-0 2 1 14
*Vogel 3-9 4-4 3 2 11
*Peden 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
*Bowers 5-7 0-0 2 1 11
Johnson 1-4 0-0 2 0 2
Lockhart 2-7 1-3 2 1 5
Totals 19-45 8-12 28 5 50
Three-point goals - Whitko 4-13 (Hoopingarner 2-5, Juillerat 2-5, Wendel 0-1, Westness 0-2), Manchester 4-11 (Siebrase 2-4, Bowers 1-1, Vogel 1-4, Pattison 0-1, Lockhart 0-1). Turnovers - Whitko 16, Manchester 11. Fouls - Whitko 13, Manchester 17. Fouled out - Peden.
JV - Manchester 28, Whitko 19
