Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊHeading into their first Three Rivers Conference battle of the young basketball season, the Manchester Squires were looking to break out of their early season slide.
The Squires, who entered Friday's game with a 2-3 record, looked to get off to a fast conference start against an undefeated Southwood team.
After the Squires learned early in the evening they would be without head coach Gary Goshert due to a family emergency, they had to regroup and focus on what was at hand: the opening of a very tough TRC schedule.
"Our kids were pretty upset and sorry about coach,' Manchester junior varsity coach Steve Rice, who filled in for Goshert, said. "They wanted to come out and win this for Coach. We had a good effort, but the kids are really disappointed.'
Southwood started the game red-hot from the field, going 8 of 9 in the first quarter to jump out to a 20-14 first-quarter lead.
"We started out the game man-to-man just like we always do. We couldn't stop them,' Rice said. "We changed to a zone, and that contained them a lot better.'
The first quarter and the game belonged to Southwood 6-foot-4 senior Shawn Zellers. Zellers scored eight of his game-high 27 in the opening frame.
"Zellers had an excellent game,' Rice said. "We couldn't find him early, and he is just an overall good athlete.'
The first three minutes were a bit sloppy as both teams combined for five turnovers. After that, both teams handled the ball well. Southwood finished with only eight turnovers, while the Squires turned the ball over six times.
"Both teams did a nice job of handling the ball,' Southwood coach Steve McClure said. "It was important for us to get off to a good start in this building. I'm proud of our team tonight.'
The second quarter belonged to the Squires. Manchester outscored Southwood 15-6 and looked rejuvenated in the quarter.
The Squires took their first lead at 21-20 on a Klint Rupley jumper with 5:17 to play in the half. The Squires opened the quarter with a 7-0 run and went on another 7-0 run to push the lead to 27-22.
"We were a lot more intense in the second half, and our defensive pressure was better,' Rice said.
The Squires took a 29-26 halftime lead and looked like they had the momentum going in their direction.
"We did a good job of executing in the quarter,' Rice said. "We didn't execute well down the stretch.'
The third quarter was a see-saw battle. The Squires ripped off the first four points of the quarter, thanks to a lay-up by Nate Kerr and a tip-in rebound basket by Rupley, to up the lead to 33-26.
A three-pointer by Klay Bechtold extended the lead to 37-30 with 5:22 to play, but the Knights didn't fold. Zellers hit a lay-up to end the quarter and knot the game at 41-41 heading into the final frame.
"This team has a special spirit,' McClure said. "We have a lot of good intangibles on this team.'
It was all Zellers again in the fourth quarter. Zellers scored nine more in the clutch, including a Vince Carter-like slam dunk over a Squire player, and he was fouled with 35 seconds left to seal the deal for the Knights.
The Squires had their share of opportunities to win the game. With the game tied at 50-50 with 1:37 left, the Squires couldn't hit a free throw.
"We couldn't hit some clutch shots when we needed to,' Rice added. "Coach McClure did a great job of switching defenses on us, and it kept us guessing.'
Brady Elzroth was the other Knight in double figures, scoring 13 points. Besides Zellers' 27 points, he also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Manchester was led by Bechtold's 14 points. Anthony Frieden and Rupley each chipped in 10 points.
Manchester (2-4, 0-1 TRC) plays in the Wabash County Tournament December 29 against Wabash.
Southwood improves to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the TRC.
SOUTHWOOD 58
MANCHESTER 52
Southwood (4-0, 1-0) 20 6 15 17 - 58
Manchester (2-4. 0-1) 14 15 12 11 - 52
Southwood FG FT A S R Pts.
Zellers (C) 11-20 5-5 0 0 10 27
Elzroth (F) 6-11 0-0 1 5 5 13
Bassett (G) 3-5 0-0 4 0 1 9
Shaw (F) 2-6 1-2 0 0 3 5
Ehret (G) 1-5 2-2 6 0 2 4
Kroft 0-1 0-0 2 0 2 0
Flora 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0
Rogers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 23-48 8-9 15 5 23 58
Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.
Bechtold (F) 4-10 4-4 1 1 3 14
Frieden (G) 3-8 1-3 3 2 1 10
Rupley (C) 5-6 0-4 0 0 3 10
Kerr (F) 2-3 0-0 1 0 3 4
A. Sorg (G) 0-3 0-0 1 1 0 0
M. Sorg 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 2
Dale 0-4 1-2 0 2 4 1
Stoops 1-6 0-0 1 2 1 2
Simcoe 3-6 2-2 1 0 3 4
Totals 19-48 8-15 10 8 19 52
Three-point goals -ÊSouthwood (4-14) Brandon Ehret 0-4, Brian Bassett 3-4, Tyler Kroft 0-1, Adam Shaw 0-2, Brady Elzroth 1-3., Manchester (6-19) Klay Bechtold 2-7, Anthony Sorg 0-2, Todd Dale 0-1, Anthony Frieden 3-4, Matt Stoops 0-3, Dustin Simcoe 1-2.. Turnovers -ÊSouthwood 8, Manchester 6 . Total fouls - Southwood 19, Manchester 17. Fouled out -Ênone.
JV: MANCHESTER 48, SOUTHWOOD 30
No JV scoring was available.
