NORTH MANCHESTER – Prior to Friday night's home game, the Manchester Squires had won 11 of their previous 12 games, as the state tournament looms. Who the Squires will face in the opening round of Class 2A sectional play will be announced Sunday, and facing the Class 4A Columbia City Eagles appeared on paper to be a tough test. It was exactly that on the court, too. The Eagles got out to a big lead early, and they never looked back as Columbia City rolled to a 53-39 victory in North Manchester. “We stopped attacking the basket, and we had 14 turnovers for the game,” said Manchester coach Eric Thompson. “They did a very good job and they were very efficient. Kudos to them, but hopefully this is the last time that we will do this.” The Eagles were stingy defensively, as they held Manchester to just 14 points in the first half. The Squires looked outmatched by halftime. Columbia City's Mason Coverstone led the way for the Eagles with 14 points. Brachen Hazen and Justin Bachelder added nine points each in the win. The Squires were down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, but they didn’t give up. They shaved half of the deficit in the fourth quarter, but it was still not enough. Thompson still praised the effort, but wishes his team could have shown that effort the entire game. “I am happy with how we bounced back and how we competed with them,” Thompson said. “We played how we practiced all week, but it's never any good to not do the things that you spend your time working on all week. The silver lining, we showed we can compete with the caliber of Columbia City, which gives us hope for the sectional in two weeks." Manchester freshman Koehl Fluke shined in the loss and led all scorers with 16 points. In their final home games as Squires, seniors Chase Fierstos and Chainey Zolman scored 10 points each. Also on Friday night, Southwood defeated Northfield and improved its conference record to 6-1, sharing the top spot with Manchester and Tippecanoe Valley, as they will all end their regular season with opponents outside conference. The Squires have one final regular season game, a date with the Argos Dragons Tuesday night at 7:30 pm.
COLUMBIA CITY 53, MANCHESTER 39 CC 13 14 12 14 – 53 M 7 7 10 15 – 39 Columbia City – Mason Coverstone5 2-4 14. Parker Hazen 1 2-2 4, Brachen Hazen 4 1-2 9, Justin Bachelder 3 1-2 9, Matt Benedict 1 2-2 4, Robert Warrick 2 0-1 4, Cooper Parish 2 1-3 7, Ryan Mosher 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 9-13 53. Manchester – Chase Fierstos 4 1-2 10, Brayton Sewell 0 0-0 0, David McAtee 1 1-1 3, Koehl Fluke 6 4-5 16, Chainey Zolman 4 1-2 10, Branden Scott 0 0-0 0, Cameron Brandenburg 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-12 39. Three-pointers – Columbia City 6 (Coverstone 2, Bachelder 2, Parish 2), Manchester 2 (Fierstos, Zolman); Fouls – Columbia City 17, Manchester 20; Fouled out – none; Records – Columbia City 15-6, Manchester 14-7 JV – Columbia City 40, Manchester 35
