NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester Squires started the season with a list of goals. They’ve accomplished most of them. They hope to check another off this week. Win the county tournament. Check. Get at least a piece of the Three Rivers Conference championship. Check. Beat Tippecanoe Valley, something that hasn’t happened in more than a decade. Check. Win the program’s first sectional championship since 1995. Well, the Squires have a chance to do that this week, as they open the 105th annual state tournament by playing North Miami Tuesday in Class 2A Sectional 37 at Oak Hill High School. “We’ve been able to accomplish a lot of goals ... the county tournament, getting a piece of the TRC, beating Tippy Valley, having another winning season,” said fourth-year Manchester coach Eric Thompson. “They’re not firsts, but they’re firsts-in-a-long-time. Our next goal on the list is the sectional and beyond.” The Squires, who went 6-1 in the TRC and shared the title with Valley, have won 12 of their last 14 games and take a 15-7 record into tournament play. Manchester won 64-28 at North Miami on Jan. 28. Despite the 36-point win over his team’s first-round opponent, its 6-1 record against the sectional field, or that the Squires have the most wins in the field, Thompson is being cautiously optimistic. “When we’re playing together and doing things the Squire Way, we’re a pretty good team,” said Thompson. “But I mean this truthfully, I think it’s anybody’s sectional. We play North Miami in the first round ... North Miami is vastly improved since we played them. We’re 6-1 against the sectional field, the one (Southwood) is who we’d play if we advance to Friday. “Northfield’s record isn’t indicative of what they’re capable of,” continued Thompson. “They’re a good team. Oak Hill is a good team, and they’re playing the sectional on their floor. Lewis Cass has only played two teams in the sectional, but they beat them both. The conference schools know each other, but we don’t all know Lewis Cass. I’m not being politically correct or whatever, or trying to sound like a coach, but honestly it’s anybody’s sectional.” Manchester and North Miami will square off at 7 p.m. in Tuesday’s only game. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Northfield will play the host Eagles, followed by Lewis Cass and Wabash. Friday’s first semifinal game will pit Southwood against Manchester or North Miami at 6 p.m., followed by Wednesday’s winners. Saturday sectional’s championship game is schedule for 7:30 p.m. The champion at Oak Hill will play the second game at the Tipton Regional on March 14 against the winner of the Tipton Sectional. “We’ve accomplished a lot of things so far this season, now our goal is the sectional and beyond,” said Thompson. “It would be pretty special to win the sectional, it hasn’t happened here in a long time. When we’re at full strength, and when we play together, and everybody accepts their roles, we’re a pretty good team. When we don’t, we’re very vulnerable.” The Squires opened the season with wins over Mississinewa, Oak Hill and Wawasee. An injury to standout junior Chase Fierstos provided a hurdle for the Squires, and they lost five straight games. Manchester has since won 12 of 14, with the losses being against Peru and Columbia City. Senior Chainey Zolman leads the Squires in scoring with 18 points per game, while Fierstos averages 16 points per game. Freshman Koehl Fluke and sophomore David McAtee chip in with 11 and nine points per game, respectively.
