Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
North Manchester - For a brief moment before Saturday's varsity boys basketball game with visiting Wawasee, Manchester's student section displayed a banner that read, "mermaids aren't real."
While that may be the case, the Squires played like a team that is for real. And if Manchester coach Gary Goshert had any questions about how his team would play one night after winning an emotional game over Three Rivers Conference rival Oak Hill, he got the answers he was looking for in the form of a 58-46 win over his former school.
"That's something we were thinking about," Goshert said of a possible letdown after the Oak Hill win. "We talked about that in the walk through, what we wanted to do with the momentum we picked up. I know the competition Wawasee plays, and I knew we had to get after it."
And get after it Manchester did.
Behind a huge first-quarter effort from 6-foot-3 senior center Klint Rupley, the Squires jumped out to a 16-7 lead after one quarter and led 31-15 at the half.
Rupley scored 11 points in the first and finished with a game-high 19 points and six rebounds.
"Klint has only been playing two years," Goshert, who coached Wawasee for 10 years, said. "He's a good athlete. He plays football, basketball and baseball. He's a young man who really cares about the team and takes it upon himself to improve. A lot of kids have looked at his leadership and improved on both ends of the floor. Klint is an excellent leader."
In upping their overall record to 7-4 and their win streak to six, the Squires also got 16 points from senior Anthony Frieden and seven each from reserves Todd Dale and Dustin Simcoe.
Losing its sixth straight, Wawasee falls to 3-8 and was led in scoring by senior Scott Beasley, who scored 10 on 4-of-8 shooting. Senior Andrew Packer added nine, while reserves Travis Klenke and Justin VanLue added seven each.
"We needed to get a win," first-year Wawasee coach Phil Mishler said. "If we were gonna get a win, it needed to be this weekend. When you start the first quarter in a hole like we did, it's hard to get a win."
Wawasee cut the deficit to nine early in the third, but Manchester went on a 10-0 run to make the score 41-22.
Dale scored the first basket of the final frame, giving the Squires a 46-28 lead. Wawasee got as close as 12, 52-40, but a three by Michael Sorg and some free throws from Frieden boosted Manchester's lead again.
"They had smart guard play," Mishler said of Manchester. "They took smart shots, and when the ball bounced their way they put it in. Those are the signs of a well-coached team."
Manchester will play at Carroll Tuesday, while Wawasee will host conference rival Plymouth Friday.
MANCHESTER 58,
WAWASEE 46
Wawasee (3-8) 7 8 13 18 - 46
Manchester (7-4) 16 15 13 14 - 58
Wawasee FG FT R S Pts.
Doty (G) 1-4 0-0 5 0 3
Adkins (G) 0-3 2-4 2 0 2
Beasley (G) 4-8 0-0 2 1 10
Popenfoose (F) 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Packer (C) 4-8 1-4 4 0 9
VanLue 3-5 0-0 1 0 7
Klenke 3-5 0-2 2 2 7
Brumbaugh 0-0 2-2 1 0 2
Abbs 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
Lantz 1-2 0-2 1 1 2
Custer 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Totals 17-36 7-17 20 4 46
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
Bechtold (F) 1-7 0-0 1 1 3
A. Sorg (G) 0-0 1-4 4 0 1
Frieden (G) 4-8 6-8 5 2 16
Kerr (F) 1-3 2-2 1 1 4
Rupley (C) 8-11 2-3 6 0 19
M. Sorg 1-1 0-1 0 0 3
Dale 3-4 0-0 4 0 7
Simcoe 2-4 2-3 3 0 5
Westendorf 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Stoops 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-38 13-21 27 4 58
Three-point goals - Wawasee 5-11 (Beasley 2-3, VanLue 1-2, Klenke 1-2, Doty 1-3, Adkins 0-1), Manchester 6-11 (Frieden 2-3, Bechtold 1-4, M. Sorg 1-1, Dale 1-1, Simcoe 1-2). Turnovers - Wawasee 10, Manchester 9. Fouls - Wawasee 21, Manchester 17. Fouled out - none.
JV - Wawasee 54, Manchester 40
Wawasee - Stephen Conrad 10, Clint Custer 7, Adam Packer 6, Rosten Trobaugh 6, Kyle Lantz 6, Ryan Stichter 6, Ben Knisely 5, James Stucky 4, John Lundgren 2, Alex Plew 2
Manchester - Barry Hicks 11, Jediah Caradante 11, Blake Harper 7, Joel Garber 4, Matt Straka 4, Chris Stine 2, Brad Sroufe 1
