Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WABASH - After losing by one point in the opening round of the Wabash County boys basketball tournament to Northfield Tuesday, the Manchester Squires were looking to take their frustration out on someone.
The Squires, losers of three of their last four games, were hoping Wabash would be the opponent they were looking for to get back on track. The Squires beat the Apaches soundly in their first game of the year.
After playing sloppily the first quarter, the Squires got the medicine they needed, pounding Wabash 76-34 in Wednesday's consolation game of the Wabash County Tournament.
"A consolation game is always a tough game to play in," Manchester coach Gary Goshert admitted. "It was just another opportunity for us to play and to work on some things."
The first quarter was sloppy on both sides of the ball. Both Manchester and Wabash committed seven turnovers. The Squires jumped out to an early 7-0 lead thanks in large part to David Bazzoni and Chris Lochner. Bazzoni scored the Squires' first three points and Lochner netted the next four on two layups.
In the opening round against Southwood, Wabash was shut out in the first quarter; they trailed 19-0. In Wednesday's game, they struggled to score again. The Apaches finally scored their first point with 4:25 left on a Jeremy Landis basket. The first quarter pretty much told the story of this game.
"The things we were looking at tonight were playing better defense and getting better shot selection," Goshert said. "I really think we improved in both areas."
The second quarter was a nightmare for the Apaches. It has been that way all year for the young team. Wabash opened with an Aaron Sundheimer free throw to cut the lead to 12-6, but after that it was all Manchester. The Squires then scored the next 18 points to up their lead to 30-6 and pretty much put the Apaches to rest.
"Once we got settled down, we were pretty effective," Goshert said. "We got out and ran because of our defensive pressure, which caused us to get a lot of easy shots."
The Squires led 38-11 at the half, limiting the Apaches to 29 percent shooting (4 of 14) in the half. "It is about time we play on the defensive end," Goshert added.
The Squires were doing all of this without starting point guard Anthony Frieden, who sprained his ankle in the Northfield game.
The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first, total Squire domination. The Squires scored 38 points in the third and fourth quarters and limited to Wabash to 23.
Manchester go-to guy Lee Shafer was quiet for most of the game. Heading into the quarter, Shafer had only four points. Shafer came alive in the third, hitting all seven of his shots and netting 16 points.
The Squires also got a nice game from David Bazzoni. The junior added 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Nate Kerr also finished in double figures, scoring 11. For the Apaches, Jeremy Landis was the only bright spot. He scored a game high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
This was a game the Squires really needed. They needed some confidence going into their next game, next Friday when they travel to Three Rivers Conference rival Whitko. The Squires are 3-0 in the TRC.
"Whitko is going to be a quality team next week," Goshert said. "We need to learn how to get off to better starts. We have been sluggish early lately, and you can't do that if you want to win games on a consistent basis."
Consistency is just what this Manchester squad needs. They will look to add some consistency next week. With the win, the Squires improve to 5-3, while Wabash drops to 0-9.
MANCHESTER 76, WABASH 34
Manchester (5-3) 12 26 26 12 - 76
Wabash (0-9) 5 6 14 9 - 34
Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.
Bazzoni (G) 6-11 4-6 6 2 4 16
Bechtold (G) 2-4 0-0 2 0 2 4
A. Sorg (G) 1-3 0-2 0 2 1 2
Shafer (F) 9-11 1-1 1 1 3 20
Lochner (C) 3-4 2-2 1 0 5 8
Miller 0-2 3-4 1 0 2 3
Kerr 5-6 1-1 0 0 2 11
Haynes 0-2 2-4 0 0 5 2
Stoops 2-2 0-0 0 0 1 4
M. Sorg 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Dale 1-2 4-4 1 0 1 6
Total 29-47 17-24 12 5 27 76
Wabash FG FT A S R Pts.
Sundheimer (G) 3-7 1-2 2 0 1 8
Landis (G) 8-15 3-3 0 2 1 22
Strack (F) 0-3 0-0 0 0 1 0
Smith (F) 0-2 1-2 1 0 4 1
Palascak (C) 1-4 0-0 0 0 4 2
Oswalt 0-1 0-0 0 0 2 1
Siders 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Fairchild 0-1 0-0 0 0 2 0
Totals 12-34 6-10 3 2 15 34
Three-pointers - Manchester 1 (Shafer), Wabash 4 (Landis 3, Sundheimer 1). Turnovers - Manchester 14, Wabash 29. Fouls - Manchester 14, Wabash 17. Fouled out - Strack, Palascak.
