NORTH MANCHESTER – Kalene Freshour scored 17 points to lead the Manchester Lady Squires to a 48-44 victory over the Whitko Lady Wildcats Friday evening in high girls basketball action. Freshour also had a supporting cast of fellow seniors Autumn Brewer and Bekah Brunn, who scored nine and eight points, respectively, while junior Sydney Snep scored 10 points to help lead the way for the Lady Squires (3-4 overall, 1-1 TRC). Freshman Jennifer Reiff led all Whitko scorers with 11 points and senior guard Melanie Kelsey scored 10 points as the Lady Wildcats (3-5 overall, 1-1 TRC) suffered a setback following their conference-opening win over North Miami last Saturday. “We are still maturing, still improving," said Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley. “The biggest thing is the fact that we graduated four starters and six seniors. You can't replace that experience. The thing we've got to look at and the thing we talked to the girls about after the game was that from game one to game eight tonight we have improved, and we have by leaps and bounds. We've had some young, inexperienced letdowns, and that's just part of the maturation process. There were multiple lead changes during Friday’s game. Manchester's largest lead was 10 points, which took place in the third quarter before Whitko erased it and ended up with a one-point lead at the end of the period. Whitko's largest lead was five points in the second quarter, which was erased by an 8-0 run from the Lady Squires. “It was nip and tuck, and I think that was a real key to the game to have runs from both teams,” said Manchester head coach Mark Underwood. “I was very pleased that the kids just kept plugging away and it didn't seem to faze them. Mentally, I think they stayed in it instead of giving up. In the second half, we come out and get a lead for a little but [Whitko] comes back. It was definitely a game of momentum swings, and I guess we are just glad that we had the momentum at the end when it was important.” Whitko will travel to Ligonier Thursday to face Ball State commit Haley Richardson and the West Noble Lady Chargers. Manchester will host Wabash County and TRC rival Southwood.
