NORTH MANCHESTER – Eric Thompson has been in this situation before, and he’s hoping for the same results. Thompson is entering his second season as the varsity boys basketball coach at Manchester High School. He has the task of rebuilding a tradition-rich program that hasn’t had a winning season in a decade. Thompson did the same thing at Peru, taking over a program that won five games in 2001-2002. The Tigers won four games in Thompson’s first season at the helm. In Thompson’s final three seasons, Peru won 19, 19 and 15 games, respectively. Can he do the same thing with the Squires, whose last winning season was the 2001-2002 campaign, and whose last sectional title was in 1995? “It’s a situation I’ve been in before when I was at Peru,” said Thompson. “It’s not going to happen over night, but we’re going to work hard, and we’re going to turn this thing around. From the first day last year until the end of the season, we made huge strides. Our goal this year is to continue that.” The Squires were 6-17 under Aaron Cripe two years ago. Last season, Thompson led them to a 4-17 record overall and a 1-6 mark in the Three Rivers Conference. Thompson was hired about a month before school started, leaving little time for the players to get to know him. This season, the coach and the players are a lot more familiar with each other. “Last year, I was hired in July,” said Thompson. “There wasn’t a lot of time to get things implemented. The players are more familiar with my system, and we want to continue to implement that and keep getting better.” Thompson will have a young foundation to help rebuild the Manchester program, as Neil Underwood is the only senior on the Squires’ varsity roster. Of the 12 players on the varsity roster, seven of them are freshmen or sophomores. The roster is comprised of Underwood, juniors Claudel Dickantone, Phoenix Goad, Clayton Petrie and Dalton Day; sophomores Branden Scott, Cameron Brandenburg, Lucas Schilling and Rainer Borgmann; and freshmen Chase Fierstos, Braydon Sewell and Rylie Rickert. The starting lineup, according to Thompson, will feature Underwood, Goad, Petrie, Dickantone and Schilling. “By the end of the year, I hope to find a good mix of kids 7, 8, 9, 10 players deep,” said Thompson. “One of the main goals we have is to continue to implement our system and play the best we’re capable of. The idea is to play our best basketball as we go into the state tournament.” The Squires open the season tonight at Mississinewa, and then travel to Oak Hill Saturday. Manchester opens TRC play Dec. 14 when it hosts Southwood. “Every game this season is important for us,” said Thompson. “We’re still in such a development phase. We’re just going to continue to chip away.”
