NORTH MANCHESTER - There's more than one way to measure a basketball player, said eighth-year Manchester High School girls coach Mark Underwood.
Sure, they can be measured by height, but also by heart.Underwood is going to measure his 2008-2009 team by its heart.
The Squires, who open the season Friday at Bluffton, aren't the tallest team around by any means, as the tallest player on the 11-person varsity roster is 5-foot-9 freshman Hannah Little.
Manchester's likely starting five of seniors Katie Bowers, Becka Guthrie, Noelle Patrick and Amber Fratus and junior Jessica Bedke are listed on the roster as 5-8, 5-3, 5-7, 5-7 and 5-5, respectively.
"We're gonna be small, there's nothing we can do about that," said Underwood. "You can measure players by height, but also by heart. I know this team is going to play hard and be scrappy. You can make up for a lack of size with other things, like effort and determination."
The Squires finished last season with a Three Rivers Conference record of 2-5 and overall mark of 7-14. Manchester's season ended with a 47-38 loss to rival Wabash in the opening-round of Class 2A sectional play.
Of the Squires' seven wins last season, four of them came in their final six games.
Inexperienced at the beginning of last season, Manchester came around toward the end of the 2007-2008 campaign.
Those four wins late in the season give the Squires something to build on, as they return five players - the aforementioned probable starting five - from that team.
"It took us a while to get going last year," said Underwood, who owns a win-loss record of 100-57 with the Squires. "We were 1-8 to start the season and ended 6-6 in our last 12 games, going 4-2 in our final six games. We beat a good Rochester team on the road. We beat Triton on the road. A lot of the girls that contributed last year are back. We have five returning letter winners."
Manchester averaged 40 points per game last season. Of those 40 points, 25 of them return with Bedke, Fratus, Patrick, Guthrie and Bowers.
Bowers led Manchester in scoring last season with 10.7 points per game, while Patrick was second on the team in scoring at 5.6 points per contest.
Bowers also led Manchester last year with 4.7 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 33.5 assists per game.
Of the 11 players on the varsity roster, Underwood said five of them are currently ready to play varsity full-time. The others will split time on the JV and varsity teams.
"We've got five main players for the varsity team right now," said Underwood. "That's the beauty of being able to play five quarters. Some of the girls can play two quarters on the JV and still have three quarters left for the varsity game. That's a good way of getting them some more time to get them more experience."
Joining the aforementioned five on the varsity roster are senior Josi Cripe, junior Emily Hill, sophomore Erika Milam and freshmen Meika Kennedy, Hanna Scmidt and Little.
Underwood said he doesn't think there's a weak team in the TRC, but said he could put Wabash, North Miami and defending champion Whitko at the top of the favorites list for this season.
"I think Wabash, North Miami and Whitko, the reigning champ, are going to be pretty good this year," said Underwood. "You better be ready to go though, there's no easy game in the TRC."
Underwood doesn't make goals like winning the conference championship or a sectional championship. He said those are his team's goals every season.
Underwood's three goals for Manchester are the same every year - to not let any body work harder, to represent Manchester High School in a class manner, and to improve every day and play the best basketball at the end of the season.
Following Friday's game with Bluffton, the Squires will host Mississinewa Nov. 21, play at Winamac Nov. 25 and host Oak Hill in a boys-girls doubleheader Nov. 29.
