SYRACUSE — They were pushed at the end, but a hot start by the Manchester Squires propelled them to a 45-44 win at Wawasee Friday night. Improving to its first 3-0 start since the 2001-02 season, Manchester made its first five field goals, three of which were three-pointers, and jumped out to a 13-5 lead. The lead bulged to 30-19 at the half, but Wawasee (0-3) scored the first 10 points of the second half, climbing within 30-29 with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter. “I thought we let them push us around (in the first half),” Wawasee coach Steve Wiktorowski said. “We let them push us off the block. I didn’t think we did a good enough job of getting open for our first pass to start the offense. We just challenged them (at halftime) a little bit that, we can’t let them take us out of things as much as they did on both ends of the court.” That challenge was accepted, and even though they never got the lead, the Warriors did make it a one-possession game on four separate occasions, the last of which went all the way to the buzzer. Following two free throws by Manchester sophomore Braydon Sewell, the Squires appeared to have the game wrapped up, leading 45-41 with 40 seconds remaining. However, Wawasee junior Alex Clark then converted a three-point play, making it a 45-44 contest with 24 seconds to play. Manchester obliged Wawasee with a turnover on its next possession, but Clark was called for a charge, handing the ball right back to the Squires. On Manchester’s in-bound pass, it opted to throw it deep, which glanced off a Squire fingertip, handing it right back to Wawasee with 1.4 seconds remaining. Having to go the length of the court, 6-foot-5 Wawasee senior Chase Myers caught the in-bound pass at half-court, then quickly got it over to junior Aaron Voirol for a three-pointer, but it fell off the mark at the buzzer. “It’s a play that we work on,” Wiktorowski said. “It’s not a real high percentage play, but when you have 1.4 seconds, there’s not a lot you can do. We probably got as good of a look as we could have asked for.” The win snapped Manchester’s eight-game losing streak to the Warriors, and it’s a victory coach Eric Thompson doesn’t think his team could have gotten in previous years, going 11-32 in his first two seasons at Manchester. “We couldn’t have gotten this win at all, until maybe February of last year,” Thompson said. “Maybe. It shows the hard work these guys put in in the offseason and at the beginning of this season to be sitting where we’re at right now.” Manchester had three players score in double digits, led by senior Clayton Petrie’s 13, followed by sophomore Chase Fierstos’ 12 and senior Claudel Dickantone’s 11. In Manchester’s fast start, no one was hotter than Dickantone, who hit his first three field goals and had seven points in the first three minutes of the game. Despite the hot start, Dickantone was limited because of foul trouble, picking up his second with 2:56 remaining in the first quarter, leaving him on the bench the rest of the half. Getting back on the court to start the second half, he quickly picked up his third foul 1:03 into the second quarter, then his fourth five seconds later. “He showed great leadership on the sideline – cheering the guys on when he couldn’t be in,” Thompson said of Dickantone. Wawasee had some foul trouble of its own, as junior Stori Bright picked up two fouls with 6:07 remaining in the first half after recording four points and grabbing three rebounds. Like Dickantone, Bright also picked up two quick fouls in the third quarter, both coming in the first two minutes, sending him to the bench. Before fouling out in the fourth quarter, Bright nabbed seven rebounds and would have had many more if he could have stayed on the court. “He gives us a defensive presence inside that we struggle with,” Wiktorowski said of Bright. “Also, he gives us chances on offense for second and third-chance opportunities. He’s just such a great offensive rebounder. When he’s out of the game, we really miss those two things.” Wawasee was led by junior Gage Reinhard’s 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals, as well as Clark’s 13 points. Instead of having a lot of time to think about the team’s first 0-3 start since the 1999-2000 season, the Warriors are right back on the court tonight at West Noble. “I think our kids want to get back out there,” Wiktorowski said. “They’ll be ready to go.” The Warriors may want to put the game behind them, but for the Squires, the win is one they want to relish and continue to build on. “We haven’t won at Manchester in a long time, so every game is new territory,” Thompson said. “It’s fun when you’re winning. It’s been a long journey to get here and guys are having a good time. Hopefully we can keep doing it.” The Squires face another Northern Lakes Conference team Thursday when it hosts the Warsaw Tigers. The game will be the 61st meeting between Manchester and Warsaw, but the first since 1976, although Thompson coached against the Tigers three seasons ago when he was at Peru, losing 61-50 at the Tiger Den. “We’re very happy that they feel we’re worthy of preparing them for the tournament,” Thompson said. “Coach (Doug) Ogle and his staff have forgotten more than I know. I’m very pleased to try to battle them. They’ll help us, I know, with what they’re going to throw at us.”
MANCHESTER 45, WAWASEE 44 M 20 10 4 11 – 45 W 9 10 12 13 – 44 Manchester – Chase Fierstos 3-6 5-7 12, Braydon Sewell 1-2 2-4 4, Claudel Dickantone 4-9 0-2 10, Phoenix Goad 0-0 0-1 0, Clayton Petrie 4-9 3-4 13, Branden Scott 0-0 1-3 1, Cameron Brandenburg 1-4 0-0 3, Lucas Schilling 1-2 0-0 2, Micah McDaniel 0-0 0-0 0, Keelan Norwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-32 11-21 45. Wawasee – Gage Reinhard 3-8 5-5 12, Chase Myers 2-5 1-1 5, Sam Clark 0-0 0-1 0, Alex Clark 5-13 2-2 13, Stori Bright 0-2 4-4 4, Aaron Voirol 1-5 0-1 2, Jeffrey Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Hutchinson 1-3 0-0 2, David Rocha 2-5 0-0 5, Jayce Boatwright 0-0 1-2 1, Kody Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-41 13-16 44. Three-pointers – Manchester 6 (Dickantone 2, Petrie 2, Fierstos, Brandenburg), Wawasee 3 (A. Clark, Rocha, Reinhard); Team Fouls (fouled out) – Manchester 20 (Dickantone), Wawasee 21 (A. Clark, Bright); Turnovers – Manchester 17, Wawasee 13; Rebounds – Manchester 26 (Sewell 7), Wawasee 26 (Myers 8); Assists – Manchester 8 (Fierstos 5), Wawasee 4 (Reinhard 2, Voirol 2); Steals – Manchester 4 (Fierstos 2), Wawasee 6 (Reinhard 2, S. Clark 2); Blocks – Manchester 2 (Petrie 2), Wawasee 0. Records: Manchester 3-0, Wawasee 0-3 JV – Wawasee 33, Manchester 25 Wawasee – Parker Hatfield 9, Chase Rookstool 8, Elijah Solina 8, Aaron Beer 4, Tyler Smith 4 Manchester – Bailey Ness 13, David McAtee 8, Norwood 2, Austin Brewer 2
