NORTH MANCHESTER - Pardon the pun, but the Lewis Cass Kings took a royal beating at Manchester High School Monday.
Entering with an 0-5 record, things didn't get any better for Cass, which struggled with a Squires press that created 29 turnovers in a 54-33 decision that went Manchester's way from the start."Our last couple of opponents just weren't very pressable, so we didn't try to press them," Manchester coach Mark Underwood said about applying pressure. "It depends on who we're playing. We felt like we could use our quickness and full-court pressure to create some turnovers, which it did. It was something good to have and use tonight. I'm not sure we'll press every game, it just kind of depends on the opponent and what we feel we need to do to be successful on that particular night."
With a 33-11 lead going into the second half, the Squires took their press off, but by that time, Cass may have been more concerned with getting home safely on an icy night.
The victory leaves Manchester with a 3-2 mark, those two losses coming against two of Class 2A's top teams in No. 2 Oak Hill and No. 5 Winamac.
"We've had a couple of setbacks in our last couple games, against very good teams," Underwood said. "We learned a lot about ourselves in those games. One thing we had been lacking was defense. We know we're not very big, so we're going to have to do things team defensive-wise to make up for that."
Leading the defensive charge was senior Katie Bowers, who led the way with eight steals.
"She's a great athlete and she is definitely an unselfish player," Underwood said of Bowers. "Katie Bowers doesn't care who gets the credit, as long as it gets done. She'll be glad to give an assist, she's glad to take it to the hole and she drew the tough defensive assignment tonight. We had her inside, guarding their post player. She's been a guard her entire life, but she knows we need someone to step in and do that this year."
Along with applying some strong defense, Bowers and classmate Noelle Patrick also led the offense.
Scoring 18 points each, Bowers and Patrick outscored the Kings themselves 36-33, while also dishing out two assists a piece.
"Our other kids did a nice job of getting the ball to them when they were open," Underwood said. "It's nice to have multiple girls who can score. It's nice to have two, three or four, we've even had a game when five, girls got into double-digit scoring. We have a lot of balance."
Bowers finished the night going 8-for-14 shooting, while Patrick went 6 for 12, including 5 for 8 from three-point range.
The Squires enter Three Rivers Conference play Saturday when they travel to Northfield for a 6:15 p.m. junior varsity tip off.
Following their latest contest, Underwood is optimistic his girls will carry some momentum into that game.
"Tonight, we were more tuned in on what we needed to do as a team," he said.
