NORTH MANCHESTER – The Manchester Squires are short on height compared to last season. They are long on experience, however. The Squires were 17-8 overall last season, 6-1 in the Three Rivers Conference, and lost in double overtime in the sectional final. Graduated from that team is 6-foot-7 all-conference player Chainey Zolman, who averaged 18 points per game. Fifth-year coach Eric Thompson's varsity roster doesn't feature that kind of height this season, but it does include four returning starters, as well as a fifth player who was in the starting lineup while a teammate was injured. Headlining the list of returners is 6-4 senior guard Chase Fierstos, who averaged 16 points per game during a junior season that saw him sidelined 10 games with an injury. Keelan Norwood, now a senior, started in Fierstos' place and will play a large role on this year's team. Other returning starters include three-year starter Braydon Sewell, junior David McAtee and sophomore Koehl Fluke. Fluke averaged 11 points per game a year ago, while McAtee chipped in with 10 points per contest. “I really like where we're at,” said Thompson. “Guys are working hard. We're adjusting to the new personnel coming in and tweaking some things we do. The guys are real receptive, and they have great camaraderie. “We graduated a lot of height, speed and strength, and now everybody across the board is about 6-foot. We have to kind of tweak what we do. Quickness is on our side, so hopefully we're working on the right stuff to use that as an asset.” The rest of Manchester's varsity roster includes seniors Zach Hill and Matthew Pegg; juniors Braxton Wilson, Levi Hicks, Jake Schannep and Heath Diercks; sophomore Mason Hamby and freshman Kamdyn Lester. The Squires open the season Wednesday when they host Mississinewa. Following Wednesday's contest, Manchester will host Oak Hill Saturday and travel to Wawasee on Dec. 4. Manchester opens TRC play on Dec. 18 at Southwood. Thompson said his goals for the team are the same each year ... those goals start with improving each day and parlay into winning the Wabash County Tournament, the TRC, the sectional and beyond. “The goals are the same again ... win the county tournament, win the conference, win the sectional and beyond,” said Thompson. “The guys have really bought in and done a great job. Hopefully we can continue that trend.” As far as the conference goes, Thompson believes it will once again be very competitive. Last season, the Squires finished in a three-way tie for first place with Tippecanoe Valley and Southwood. With the addition of Peru and Maconaquah, the TRC is now a 10-team league. “I think the conference is gonna be pretty tight,” said Thompson. “There's a lot of great teams from top to bottom. This conference has been boosted up a little bit with Maconaquah and Peru. The style they're going to bring from their old conference is really gonna blend well with what the rest of the schools do here. The coaches are great, and anybody can win our conference. It's gonna be really close, which makes it fun and exciting for the fans.”
