NORTH MANCHESTER – From the do-over on the opening tip to the final buzzer, Manchester did pretty much whatever it wanted against a short-handed Rochester squad in a 71-43 Three Rivers Conference home win Friday night. The Zebras lost senior guard Alec Holland to a knee injury last week, and his return this season is uncertain. Manchester took advantage of the missing ball handler, pressing Rochester most of the first half. The result was Manchester forcing 10 first-quarter turnovers while taking a 17-4 lead. The halftime totals were 14 turnovers and 12 points, and while there was still 16 minutes to play, the outcome was certain. Squire head coach Eric Thompson said his team was well prepared with excellent practices in anticipation of playing three games in six days. “We had a great week of practice,” he said. “Every day the quality of play went up, the intensity went up in anticipation of Rochester tonight, Churubusco tomorrow and Maconaquah on Tuesday. We’re trying to keep our minds wrapped around what we have to do each night. “The guys did a very nice job of reading and getting hands on the ball and hustling. When they broke (the press) we were able to get back and cause some problems from the back side or give them only one shot. “When they did get a shot it was contested, we took advantage of their turnovers, and made them pay for making mistakes, and the guys looked like they were having a good time doing it.” Senior Chase Fierstos paced the Squire scoring output, putting 22 points on the board in three quarters. Junior David McAtee and sophomore Koehl Fluke had 10 points each, and neither played in the final eight minutes. There was plenty of playing time to go around, and Thompson took full advantage of the margin by playing all 15 Squires who dressed for the game. Twelve scored and 14 pulled down at least one rebound. Thompson acknowledged the injury to Holland helped the Squire cause, as Rochester had little time to adjust to life without its point guard. “I hate to hear it. Coach (Rex) Reinholt is doing a great job and it’s very hard to get it turned around when you lose your best player and your top ball handler,” Thompson said. “It’s hard to get things turned around in a week, and they threw some really great stuff at us, as usual. “I think their kids are going to have things down by the end of the year, especially if Alec is able to come back. But it’s such a quick turnaround with the kids trying to wrap their minds around losing that quality of a player. It’s a hard thing to do, very hard.” Rochester did show some signs of life in the second half. Sophomore Jordan Reinholt knocked down jumpers from essentially the same spot on the right side of the floor on three straight trips in the third quarter. He and senior Gavin Bennett tied for team-high honors with 10 points each. But by that point Manchester had the game well in hand. “Our guys didn’t adapt quickly enough to whatever Manchester threw at us,” Coach Reinholt said. “I’ve coached against (Thompson) for years, and I knew what he was going to do. It’s hard to simulate that in practice. “We talked about the need to be adaptable and coachable and we’ve gotta do some different things, and for the most part we did, but they got us down and their defense is so sticky and their guards are so quick.” Manchester improved to 9-4 on the season, and with Tippecanoe Valley’s loss to Northfield the Squires are in sole possession of third place in the TRC at 3-1, a game in the loss column behind Maconaquah, the visiting team Tuesday night, and Southwood.
MANCHESTER 71. ROCHESTER 43 R 4 8 17 14 – 43 M 17 18 22 14 – 71 Rochester – Jacob Nigh 1-2 1-3 4, Brett Abbott 0-2 2-2 2, A.J. Notz 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Reinholt 5-11 0-0 10, Wilson Lee 2-3 2-2 6, Zac Dishon 2-6 1-1 6, Gavin Bennett 5-6 0-2 10, Ben Perez 2-4 1-2 5, Brady Perez 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-36 7-12 43. Manchester – Chase Fierstos 7-12 6-6 22, Braydon Sewell 1-1 0-0 2, Brayden Casper 1-2 0-0 2, Braxtin Wilson 2-3 0-0 5, Mason Hamby 1-3 3-3 5, David McAtee 4-6 1-1 10, Kamdyn Lester 0-0 0-0 0, Koehl Fluke 5-8 0-0 10, Levi Hicks 1-2 0-0 2, Zach Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Schannep 0-3 0-0 0, Kane Gable 1-1 0-0 2, Keelan Norwood 3-3 0-0 0, Matthew Pegg 1-2 0-0 2, Heath Dierks 1-1 1-2 3. totals 28-47 11-12 71. Three-pointers – Rochester 2 (Nigh, Dishon), Manchester 4 (Fierstos 2, McAtee, Wilson); Rebounds – Rochester 21 (Bennett 7), Manchester 23 (McAtee 4); Turnovers – Rochester 22, Manchester 12; Fouls – Rochester 14, Manchester 18; Fouled out – none; Records: Rochester 2-11 (1-4 TRC), Manchester 9-4 (3-1 TRC) JV – Manchester 57, Rochester 25 Manchester – Brayden Casper 11, Kamdyn Lester 10, Levi Hicks 9, Kane Gable 9, Braxtin Wilson 5, Jake Schannep 5, Ethan Davis 3, Heath Dierks 3, Spence Trick 2
