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NORTH MANCHESTER - The small square sign on the bulletin board in Jody Shewman's office reads, "Attitude Is Everything" -ÊLady Squires basketball.
So is something else, the Manchester coach has discovered.
Winning. Nothing beats that, either.
The Squires won the Northfield Sectional last Saturday by defeating North Miami 64-44 in the championship game. The pressure cooker - the sectional - has been turned off.
"I haven't slept a whole lot since Friday," Shewman said. "Saturday night, I don't think I slept at all. The excitement, the relief of the pressure I felt as well as the girls felt of winning. We were expected to win the sectional. Going into the regional, if we win, we win."
Winning has its price: When a team wins, everyone wants to talk to Coach, everyone wants Coach's stats. During this 15-minute Wednesday afternoon interview, Shewman's phone rang twice.
"Monday I was emotionally drained," Shewman said. "I had 5,000 phone calls. People wanted this; people wanted that. By Monday night, I had had it. But it's great. I wouldn't pass it up for anything. I enjoy this."
Next up is Lewis Cass in Saturday's Maconaquah Regional. Make that Lewis Cass vs. Manchester II. Manchester played at Lewis Cass on Jan. 29 and lost 53-50.
Could these teams be any more even?
Manchester is 19-3 and was ranked ninth in the final 2A poll. Lewis Cass is 18-4 and was ranked 10th in the final 2A poll. Manchester beat North Miami by 20 in the sectional; Cass ended the regular season by beating North Miami by 18 (57-39). Manchester's worst loss is 13 points; Cass's worst loss is 12 points.
"They're beatable," Shewman said. "It will be to our advantage losing to them on the first try."
# Shewman's gone back and watched the game tape twice. She watched it a third time when she showed it to her players on Thursday.
Shewman's analysis? Transition defense is a must: "Our defense stunk," Shewman said. "We got beat the first half at least four times by just not getting back." Offensively, she said the Squires must quickly react to Cass's defenses.
That's because Cass coach Steve Ford likes to switch defenses. Cass plays zone; Cass plays man-to-man. Cass applies full-court pressure; Cass applies half-court pressure. Whatever the situation calls for, Cass will find a defense and not just play it, but play it well.
When asked what he considered his team's strongest suit on the court, Ford said: "Defense. We're allowing just under 40 points per game. We mix up our defenses so teams can't get into a rhythm."
Yes, the Squires scored 50 the first time, but they shot only 31 percent (18 of 58) from the field. They're shooting 43 percent on the season.
"We didn't struggle with their press at all," Shewman said. "It's just going to be my guards recognizing when they go from man-to-man to zone so they know what's open."
Everyone knows about Manchester junior forward Megan Eckert, who scores 17.3 points per game. North Miami, the team Manchester played in the sectional, thought it could beat Manchester by taking out Eckert.
Not so. Yes, Eckert finished with nine points on 2-of-9 shooting. But Manchester beat North Miami by 20.
"If my shot isn't falling or if I'm not getting my shot," Eckert said, "I've tried to pick it up on other things, like defense and rebounding."
Coaches in the Northfield Sectional noticed: Eckert was one of only two players unanimously selected to the first team All-Sectional team.
Ford appreciates Eckert, but he also keeps a wary eye on Manchester senior point guard Katie Parker.
"We have to keep Parker from getting good looks from the perimeter and pushing the ball inside off the dribble," he said. "And you can't ever forget about Eckert, who does so many things with the basketball. She sees the floor well, shoots off the pass well and off the dribble well.
"I think we took a 33-22 lead at halftime last time. With Eckert shooting from the perimeter -Êshe scored 11 on us in the third quarter - and Parker slashing in the seams of our zone, they were able to catch up to us in the second half."
And then, Ford said, Manchester still has Jodie Peden, Jessica Hicks and Lindsay Seagert. Peden's good for 10 points, three assists, three steals and three rebounds a game. Seagert turns offensive rebounds into putbacks. Hicks, a 5-foot-11 freshman, has been the biggest beneficiary of the "Eckert Rules," leading Manchester in both sectional games with 18 points.
Shewman cites improved transition defense as a must, but she also believes her Squires ran into some plain old-fashioned bad luck last time.
"The night we played them, they had some pretty good outside shooters," she said. "But what I heard from people in the stands is, that was just that night.
"(Jennifer) Mehring scored 27. She had scored 20 only once. We made it twice. She was just on."
For Shewman and the Squires, the pressure's off.
The sectional is over.
The fun's only starting.
