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SOUTH WHITLEY - Jody Shewman could do nothing but try to shake the cobwebs from her head after her Manchester Squires girls basketball team squeak by Whitko 56-52 Thursday.
After watching her team struggle through a 15-of-51 shooting effort, it was hard to blame her. After all, her team is ranked No. 14 in the latest poll in 2A.
"It was pretty scary," Shewman said. "If we were playing well, it wouldn't have gotten out of control. But we're struggling right now and have some things to work on. The poll stuff is great, but on any night it's anybody's game whether you're ranked No. 1 or 100."
After three quarters of back-and-forth basketball, Whitko's Trisha Peters nailed a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a 42-38 lead.
Up to that point, Whitko had held Manchester star Megan Eckert to just 10 points. But then she broke out when her team needed her most. She hit two free throws and a layup in a six-point spurt that gave Manchester the 44-42 lead. After Tisha Rowland knocked in a shot to tie the game, Eckert hit two more free throws and then nailed her third three-pointer of the game to give Manchester a 49-46 lead.
After an Eckert jumper and a pair of free throws from Jessica Hicks, the Squires had an eight-point run and a 54-46 advantage. Whitko tried to fight back on a pair of jumpers from Stephanie Warner, but the Wildcats ran out of time for one final run.
"Katie Parker's been a little bit under the weather this week, so I knew Megan (Eckert) had to step up," Shewman said. "She did a nice job, so I'll take it."
"You're not going to shut down Megan Eckert," Whitko head coach Ray Davis said. "She's going to get her average. What we really had to do was shut down Parker and (Jodie) Peden and we held them to 13 points total."
Eckert ended the game with 21 points and Lindsay Seagert added six points and 10 rebounds as one of the few Squires with any rebounding punch. Manchester, despite being the taller team, was outrebounded 40-35. Jessica Hicks had 12 points and five rebounds for the Squires.
Whitko's BrieAnn Starkweather had a huge game with 14 points and 17 rebounds and Stephanie Warner added 12 points.
"That's where (Starkweather) needs to be," Davis said. "And she has been. She's been averaging a double-double the last three games. Warner was gone the first few games and she's gradually throwing her weight back into this team. She played very well tonight and hit some big shots in crucial times."
Another big factor was the free throw shooting. Manchester hit 23 of 28 free throws, while Whitko got to the line just six times, making two of them.
"Some of that (disadvantage) had to be because they were a little more aggressive on offense and took it to the basket," Davis said. "We didn't do that as much as we needed to and that pays off."
Whitko jumped out to an 11-8 lead after one quarter behind five points from Starkweather. Despite shooting just 3 of 13 in the opening eight minutes, the Wildcats held a slim advantage. Manchester held close on the shoulders of Seagert, who had four points and seven rebounds in the quarter.
Manchester took its first lead of the game at 15-13 after Eckert's first three-pointer and Hicks added a layup to put the Squires ahead by four. However, Whitko fought back with a 9-2 run and led by as many as five points at 28-23 in the second quarter. After a Parker basket at the buzzer, Whitko led 30-28 at the half.
The third-quarter momentum swung from team to team as Whitko went ahead 35-32 before two layups by Hicks put Manchester ahead 38-35. But the Wildcats took back the lead with the final four points of the quarter to head into the final eight minutes with a one-point lead.
"When we looked at the polls on Monday, we saw that they were 14th in 2A," Davis said. "You don't have to say much when you talk Manchester-Whitko boys or girls basketball. It's a big rivalry. But I told them in practice Monday that they had to come out and be intense from the beginning of the game."
Manchester (5-0, 2-0) will be at Marion on Saturday at noon. Whitko (3-3, 1-1) will host Oak Hill on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
