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NORTH MANCHESTER - Survive and advance.
As cliche and coach gibberish as it is, that's exactly what Manchester's varsity girls basketball team did Tuesday evening in the opening round of the state tournament.
A Manchester 2A Sectional game that was slowed by 43 fouls and featured a pair of teams that combined to go just 31 of 60 at the free throw line, Squire senior Brit Rager hit the first of two charity tosses with 10 seconds remaining, and after teammate Sarah Purdy collected the rebound on the second, Manchester celebrated an ugly-yet-beautiful 41-39 overtime win over Cass.
"There's no doubt in my mind," Squire coach Mark Underwood said when asked if Rager would have been his choice to have at the free throw line in the waning seconds. "She's one of those kind of kids that no matter what she's doing, whether it's in the classroom or with her 4-H animals or on the basketball court, she's going to give you 100 percent. She's the kind of kid that makes me think the world will be in good hands."
With the teams knotted at 36 after four quarters, Purdy put the Squires up two with a bucket 25 seconds into the four-minute extra session.
Just over two minutes later, and after Cami Naragon missed a pair of free throws that could have pushed Manchester's advantage to four, Cass senior Lara Ritz completed a three-point play for a 39-38 lead when Squire Christa Peden fouled out with 1:26 left on the clock.
Purdy tied the game at 39-all when she hit the first of two free throws and got her own rebound with 1:22 remaining.
The Squires took the lead for good with 35.2 seconds left when Naragon hit split a pair of free throws for a 40-39 advantage.
While Manchester hit just 3 of 8 free throws in overtime, 13 of 32 for the game, it was enough as the Kings turned the ball over three times in the extra session and managed just three shots.
"They say offense wins games and defense wins championships, and I think that's so true," said Underwood. "We've got a lot of young players that have never had pressure on them. This is do or die now, and they're used to the regular season where if you lose you have another game."
Though their performance was far from pretty, hitting just 13 of 32 free throws, 13 of 48 shots from the floor overall and 2 of 13 three-point attempts, the Squires played their way into Friday's sectional semifinal.
Manchester, which suffered through a 4-17 season a year ago yet improved to 14-6 Tuesday with a team that had three freshman and a sophomore in the starting lineup, battles North Miami Friday at 6 p.m.
North Miami (10-8) defeated Southwood (6-15) 58-41 in Tuesday's second game. The Squires defeated the Warriors 57-39 on Jan. 9 in Three Rivers Conference play.
"I'm proud of the way they kept their focus, they never gave up," said Underwood. "The continued to believe in each other, and this was a good win for us. Once again we rose above more adversity. I have to give a lot of credit to my assistant coaches, Todd Volk, Jodie Peden and Matt Webb. All four of us brainstormed and watched film and did some scouting. Without them this wouldn't have happened."
The Squires held a 10-6 advantage after the first quarter of play, but a 1-of-9 performance from the field in the second left them trailing 16-15 at haltime. Not that Cass was much better, shooting just 2 of 10 from the field in the second quarter, but the Kings made 5 of 6 free throws in the frame.
"We came out in the first half with some jitters," said Underwood. "I expected that with three freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup and two more sophomores and a junior coming off the bench. That didn't surprise me."
The Squires led by as much as five, 32-27, in the fourth quarter when Naragon converted a field goal attempt with 4:59 remaining, but a three-pointer from senior Kirby Taylor gave Cass a 36-32 advantage with 2:54 to play in regulation.
Purdy made a steal and bucket with 2:12 left, and Peden rebounded a miss by Rager and put it in to knot the score at 36-all with 1:37 remaining.
Taylor hit a trio of three-pointers in the game, but had to sit and watch her final high school game from the bench after fouling out. Junior teammate Mallory DeHaven also fouled out.
Rager led Manchester with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Purdy had nine points and 11 rebounds, and Libby Pattison seven points and 11 rebounds.
The Kings, who shot just 18 of 28 from the free throw line, 9 of 45 from the field overall and 3 of 13 from three-point range, got 13 points from Taylor and nine points and seven rebounds from McCall Kitchel.
MANCHESTER SECTIONAL
MANCHESTER 41,
CASS 39 OT
Manchester 10 5 11 10 5 - 41
Cass 6 10 10 10 3 - 39
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
* Naragon 2-10 1-4 2 3 5
* Pattison 2-8 2-4 12 0 7
* Siebrase 1-3 0-4 2 0 2
* Peden 1-6 1-2 3 0 3
* Rager 4-11 5-8 7 1 14
Thomas 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Purdy 3-7 3-8 11 2 9
Andersen 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Hoch 0-1 1-2 3 2 1
Totals 13-48 13-32 41 8 41
Cass FG FT R S Pts.
* Taylor 4-6 2-4 3 3 13
* Zimmerman 1-9 0-0 8 0 2
* DeHaven 1-7 3-7 2 1 5
* Ritz 1-5 5-7 17 2 7
* Kitchel 1-10 7-8 7 0 9
Holstine 1-7 1-1 5 4 3
Wilson 0-1 0-1 3 0 0
Totals 9-45 18-28 45 10 39
Three-point goals - Manchester 2-13 (Rager 1-5, Pattison 1-4, Naragon 0-2, Purdy 0-1, Hoch 0-1), Cass 3-13 (Taylor 3-5, Holstine 0-5, DeHaven 0-2, Kitchel 0-1). Turnovers - Manchester 16, Cass 21. Fouls - Manchester 20, Cass 23. Fouled out - Peden, Taylor, DeHaven.
