NORTH MANCHESTER – Manchester High School boys basketball coach Eric Thompson was having a case of déjà vu in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Wabash County and Three Rivers Conference battle with Wabash. “We had the same situation happen (at North Miami last weekend),” he said. “We had a solid lead and then back came the opposition with some strong defense and hitting some tough shots. “Fortunately, we persevered just like we did last weekend,” he added. “Our young team has had to learn some things on the fly this year, but they are handling it well.” The Squires earned a hard-fought 73-64 win over the in-county and league rival Apaches, pushing their overall record to 3-7 and boosting their conference mark to 2-1. The win also avenged a holiday tournament loss for Manchester. The Squires led 8-2 and held the upper hand for most of the first half until Wabash (2-7, 0-3 TRC) marched back behind an 8-0 run to forge a 23-23 halftime tie. The visitors opened the second half by scoring the first three points for a 26-23 lead. From that point, Thompson’s crew tallied 33 of the next 50 points to build what seemed like an unassailable lead (56-43) early in the final frame. Enter Coach Tom Robbins’ squad. Wabash used a strong pressure defense and some three-point buckets to whittle the deficit down to 60-56 with 1:23 left. Manchester, however, steadied itself with a run of six straight free throws en route to the win. The Squires ended the game with a balanced scoring attack. Claudel Dickentone, Clayton Petrie and Neil Underwood all scored 15 points in the win. Derek Flack and Chase Fierstos added ight points each, while Branden Scott chipped in with seven. Wabash was equally as balanced in the scoring column. The senior guard trio of Breyton Nealis, Andrew Adamson and Tyler King guided the Apaches with 21, 19 and eight points, respectively. “I was hoping to get the ball to the basket more often, but we seemed to settle for the three-point shot during the evening,” Robbins said. “It’s tough to sustain those opportunities which, is what we ran into tonight. “We have a four-game home stretch ahead, which is something that is needed,” he added. “We are comfortable and play well at our place.”
MANCHESTER 73, WABASH 64 Wab 8 15 10 31 – 64 Man 13 10 18 32 – 73 Wabash – Tyler King 2 4-6 8, Breyton Nealis 8 4-5 21, Jordan Blair 0 0-1 0, Andrew Adamson 6 5-6 19, Tyler Brewer 3 0-2 6, Mike Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Cody King 1-1 0-0 2, Taylor Vigar 1 0-0 2, Sailor 1 0-1 2. Totals 23 13-21 64. Manchester – Chase Fierstos 2 4-6 8, Branden Scott 0 7-8 7, Derek Flack 2 4-4 8, Claudel Dickantone 5 6-6 15, Phoenix Goad 1 0-2 2, Lucas Schilling 0 0-0 0, Clayton Petrie 4 7-8 15, Neil Underwood 7 1-2 15, Braydon Sewell 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 29-33 73. Three-pointers – Wabash 5 (Vigar 2, Adamson 2, Nealis), Manchester 2 (Dickantone 2); Team fouls – Wabash 28, Manchester 18; Fouled out – Adamson (Wab), Underwood (Manch); Turnovers – Wabash 18, Manchester 21; Rebounds – Wabash 30 (King 7), Manchester 35 (Petrie 11). JV – Wabash 43, Manchester 35 Manchester – Derek Flack 15, Micah McDaniel 6, Cody Hann 4, Riley Rickert 4, Dalton Day 2, Keelan Norwood 2, Austin Brewer 2
