NORTH MANCHESTER – After a hot start by Tippecanoe Valley in an emotional game, and a temporary loss of poise that allowed the Vikings to extend their lead, Manchester flipped the script Friday night. The Squires overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to beat Valley 56-51. Manchester is now is 10-5 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while Valley fell to 8-7 and 3-1. The emotion was centered around Manchester senior transfer Chainey Zolman, who played at Valley the first three years of his career, as well as the top spot in the conference race. Valley got off to a hot start, hitting its first four shots to take a 10-4 lead. The advantage had been maintained by the Vikings well into the second quarter when Squire Keelan Norwood picked up a pair of technicals in the last 35 seconds of the half. Alex Thacker, who had also been fouled by Chase Fierstos, hit 5 of 6 free throws in the stretch to give Valley a 32-19 halftime lead. Neil Clampitt hit a three on Valley’s first possession of the second half to extend the lead to 16. Fierstos and Zolman combined for 11 of Manchester’s 16 points in the third quarter, cutting the lead to five points by the end of the period. Fierstos added another 12 points in the decisive fourth quarter. David McAtee’s trey from near the Manchester bench with 2:53 left gave the Squires their first lead of the night. Fierstos hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to seal the win for the Squires. Manchester is learning to win, according to Squire head coach Eric Thompson. Coming in to Friday night, Manchester had lost to Valley 11 straight seasons, and 14 of 15 years. The last time the Squires beat the Vikings, this year’s seniors were in first grade. “Some of these kids have never been here before, in something like this,” Thompson said. “Even in elementary school; the sophomore class didn’t win a game in the sixth grade; seventh grade finished at .500; eighth grade they had a winning season but never really had a taste of (important games). Keelan Norwood didn’t start playing basketball until he was an eighth grader. He’s learning how to keep things in check, and we’re a work in progress. “The guys are learning how to win, learning how to win the Squire way, the right way. We tell them ‘act like you’ve been there before,’ but it’s hard to do that when you haven’t. But now we have, so now there’s no excuses.” Thacker had 23 points to lead Valley, but only five came after intermission. Viking head coach Bill Patrick said his team played differently in the second half, once the double-digit lead was secured. “We didn’t play the same in the second half as we did in the first half. We quit attacking the basket, and we got hurt on offensive rebounds,” Patrick said. “I thought our shot selection wasn’t that good in the second half, we didn’t block out on a free throw, and we had too many turnovers, 17 in the game. That’s not normal; we hadn’t been turning the ball over. A lot of those were unforced. “We played not to lose in the second half. We got that 13-point lead and started playing the clock, and playing not to lose. You can’t do that. You’ve got to keep playing.” Fierstos matched Thacker’s game-high 23 points, and Zolman had 12. In all, seven different players scored for Manchester. The Squires also handled the ball well, turning it over only six times, and not after the first minute of the second half. “This was truly a team win,” said Thompson. “We had a lot of guys step up with important minutes and important contributions. We handled the ball well, and we didn’t turn it over much. There’s a lot to be happy about tonight, but there’s another game tomorrow.” Indeed, Manchester will host Tri-Central today at 2:30 p.m. Clampitt finished with 12 points and Jared Littlejohn added eight for the Vikings. Valley wil host Maconaquah in a non-conference game at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday. MANCHESTER 56 TIPPECANOE VALLEY 51 TV 13 19 8 11 – 51 M 10 9 16 21 – 56 Valley – Alex Thacker 5-16 11-13 23, Jared Littlejohn 3-4 2-4 8, Chandler O’Connor 1-5 0-0 2, Alec Craig 0-0 0-2 0, Gavin Bussard 3-3 0-0 6, Neil Clampitt 4-6 1-2 12. Totals 16-34 14-21 51. Manchester – Chase Fierstos 7-17 8-10 23, Braydon Sewell 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Byers 0-0 0-0 0, David McAtee 2-8 1-2 6, Koehl Fluke 2-8 4-5 8, Chaney Zolman 5-12 2-3 12, Cameron Brandenburg 1-2 0-0 3, Bailey Ness 0-0 0-0 0. Keelan Norwood 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-52 15-20 56. Three-pointers – Valley 5 (Clampitt 3, Thacker 2), Manchester 3 (Fierstos, McAtee, Brandenburg); Rebounds – Valley 24 (Thacker 5, Clampitt 5), Manchester 30 (Zolman 8); Turnovers – Valley 17, Manchester 6; Fouls – Valley 16, Manchester 17; Technical Fouls – Norwood 2; Fouled out – Bussard; Records – Valley 8-7 (3-1 TRC), Manchester 10-5 (4-1 TRC) JV – Manchester 52, Valley 27 Valley – Ivan Santiago 7, Bryce Webster 7, Jarod Duzenbury 4, Trevor Neeley 3, Keith Wright 2, DeSean Heckman 2, Neil Caudill 3 Manchester – Braxtin Wilson 12, Adam Byers 11, Bailey Ness 9, Jake Schannep 7, Kane Gable 4, Levi Hicks 4, Heath Dierks 3, Nathan Self 2
