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SPEICHERVILLE - Not only did Manchester win, they overcame.
A home court disadvantage, late free-throw shooting woes, foul trouble for junior Libby Pattison and a couple of missed layups all conspired against the Squires.
But Manchester overcame and topped the Norsemen 37-35 at the Northfield Sectional in girls basketball action Friday night.
A capacity crowd comprised of slightly more Northfield fans, were treated to a battle between two teams meeting for the third time this year.
Manchester defeated the Norse 45-42 Dec. 3 in Three Rivers Conference play and once again Dec. 30 by the count of 58-45 in the Wabash County Tournament.
While the Squires led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, Northfield continued to battle and due to Manchester's 4-of-12 performance from the line in the second half, the Norse drew to within one point at 36-35 with: 13.3 seconds left in regulation.
Six-foot junior Audrey Mast's layup brought Northfield to within a point. After Mast's bucket, the Squires inbounded the ball. Junior Audrey Siebrase found a wide-open Christa Peden streaking down the floor.
Peden missed her layup opportunity and Northfield's Kristen Kline pulled down the rebound. Kline found a wide-open teammate of her own in junior guard Kassi Dyson. Dyson was unable to grab a handle and lost the ball out of bounds.
On Manchester's ensuing possession, Siebrase found herself wide-open with the ball but like Peden wasn't able to put in a layup and Northfield regained possession.
After a Norse timeout, Northfield senior Courtney Reed took the inbounds with 9.7 seconds left and drove the full length of the court.
As Reed drove baseline, the ball was knocked out of her hands by Manchester's Sarah Purdy. Siebrase pounced on the loose ball and was immediately fouled by Reed.
The foul was Reed's fifth forcing the Miami-bound forward to watch the final 2.6 seconds of regulation on the bench.
Siebrase knocked down 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to push Manchester's lead to 37-35.
The Norse inbounded the ball to Allison Mast who dribbled then took desperation three-pointer that fell well short as time expired.
With Reed on the bench, Northfield was without its leading scorer and only legitimate long-range threat.
Reed closed out her high school career with just 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting while pulling down four rebounds.
"I'm so proud of our defense," said Manchester head coach Mark Underwood. "I think we did a pretty good job on (Reed). The girls did a good job of dropping down on her."
Manchester was kept afloat in the fourth quarter by freshman Katie Bowers.
Bowers scored the Squires' first five points of the fourth quarter and led the team in scoring with seven points off the bench.
"Katie (Bowers) is a very coachable kid," said Underwood. "She's definitely an offensive threat. It doesn't matter that she's a freshman. We told her she needed step up and take shots if needed and she did that."
Manchester jumped out to a 12-3 lead after the first quarter on the strength of four points each from Pattison and Peden.
Pattison was forced to sit out the rest of the first half after she picked up her third foul with 7:14 left in the second quarter.
With Pattison on the bench, Underwood learned something about the resolve of his team.
"That was a really encouraging moment," said Underwood. "When Libby got into foul trouble you could tell right away she was upset because she's a competitor.
"Then all her teammates came around her. Sarah Purdy came up to her and said, 'I'm going to pick up for you while you're out', and that showed me a lot about our team."
Pattison, Siebrase, Peden and Casey Thomas all scored six points each for the Squires.
Northfield outrebounded Manchester 26-22 but committed 17 turnovers to the Squires' 12.
Reed scored the first seven Norse points of the third quarter as Northfield kept chipping away at Manchester's lead.
While the Squires outscored Northfield in the first quarter, the Norse outscored Manchester in the other three periods.
With the win Manchester ups its record to 20-2 on the season. The Squires will go for a sectional title tonight at 7:30 p.m. against North Miami at Northfield High School.
North Miami topped Southwood 55-52 in Friday night's second game.
