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Score one for the little guy.
In a David-and-Goliath battle in terms of enrollment and overall program success, Manchester High School's varsity girls basketball team knocked off host Warsaw, a school nearly four times its size, 49-38 Friday night in the Tiger Den.
Prior to the start of Friday evening's game, which was the first contest between the two schools since 2000, Squire fans stood, clapped and chanted in unison, "we're here to beat the Tigers."
The Class 2A No. 7 Squires did just that, outrebounding host Warsaw 40-18 en route to their first win over the Tigers since 1983.
"I think we approached this game just like any other game," said fifth-year Manchester coach Mark Underwood, whose Squires improved to 5-0 on the season. "To be successful we knew we'd have to put in a full 32 minutes tonight. Win or lose, we knew we were going to learn stuff from this game, and we wanted to just take what we learned and move on. This was a fun win. Give Coach (John) Snyder credit. They're a good basketball team and they're well coached."
Manchester's win was just the third victory over the Tigers in girls basketball in school history.
Warsaw holds a 20-3 advantage over the Squires in the overall series, which dates back to 1976. Manchester's 11-point win snapped a 17-game losing streak to the Tigers.
"Give Manchester credit," said second-year Warsaw coach John Snyder, whose team fell to 3-2 and had its three-game win streak snapped. "They're a very good team. They had a good defensive scheme, and we didn't react well. We got outrebounded 40-18 by my count. We have to go back to the drawing board. I don't want this to sound like an excuse, but we've played five games in 13 days. We haven't had a good, hard practice in two weeks. We played like a team that hasn't has a good, hard practice in two weeks. We weren't as sharp as we have been."
While the Squires converted 15 of 24 (62.5 percent) field goals in the second half, the Tigers made just 9 of 26 field goals in the second half and just 14 of 43 (32.6 percent) for the game.
After trailing 15-12 at halftime, the Squires took a 28-23 lead into the fourth quarter and built their advantage to 10, 49-39, when Caroline Andersen converted a free throw attempt with 3:20 remaining in the game.
Trying to come back, the Tigers forced shots, many of which didn't fall.
"I felt like we got a lot of good looks at the basket, some of the shots just didn't fall," said Snyder. "When we got behind, I thought we pressed a little bit. Sometimes we didn't take shots we should have, and other times we took shots we shouldn't have."
The Tigers cut the lead to seven, 41-34, when senior point guard Julie Seiss hit the first of two free throw attempts with 2:26 left in the game, but baskets by senior Sarah Purdy and junior Caroline Andersen pushed the Squires' advantage to 11.
Purdy scored eight points in the game, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
She was 3 of 3 from the field and 2 of 2 from the charity stripe.
"She played well," Underwood said of Purdy. "She's a fierce competitor, she's a hard-nosed kid."
Junior Christa Peden led the Squires with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while classmate Audrey Siebrase had 11 points and five assists.
Junior Libby Pattison had eight points and six rebounds in the win.
"They're a really good team," said Snyder of Manchester. "Their post players are as good as anybody we'll see this year and their guards know their roles. I could see them making a deep run in the state tournament. They're going to win a lot of games."
The Squires were 18-2 in the regular season last year with three sophomores in the starting lineup.
Seiss led Warsaw with a game-high 18 points, finishing 7 of 18 from the field and 4 of 6 from the charity stripe.
Junior Danielle DeGeeter scored six points and had five rebounds, while seniors Jennifer Scherer, Amy Abbitt and Kim Clay scored four points each and classmate Tasia Smith scored two points.
Warsaw is in action again Wednesday when the Tigers host Fort Wayne Northrop. The Squires are in action tonight when they host county rival Wabash in a boys-girls doubleheader.
"I hope no matter what the kids hear they stay focused," said Underwood. "We're going to continue to work hard and get better. One game is not going to make our season. This game doesn't make or break us. We're going to stay focused and get ready for conference and the post season."
MANCHESTER 49, WARSAW 38
Manchester 6 6 16 21 - 49
Warsaw 8 7 8 15 - 38
Manchester FG FT R S Pts.
* Thomas 0-3 0-0 1 2 0
* Purdy 3-3 2-3 2 0 8
* Pattison 3-7 2-2 6 2 8
* Siebrase 4-12 3-4 3 1 11
* Peden 6-9 3-3 10 1 15
Winterrowd 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Vogel 0-3 0-0 3 0 0
Bowers 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
Andersen 2-3 1-2 2 1 5
Team 0-0 0-0 13 0 0
Totals 19-42 11-14 40 7 49
Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.
* DeGeeter 3-9 0-0 5 1 6
* Abbitt 2-5 0-0 0 0 4
* Seiss 7-18 4-6 2 5 18
* Scherer 0-2 4-4 2 3 4
* Smith 1-1 0-0 4 0 2
Denlinger 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
Clay 1-4 1-2 1 1 4
Snider 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wood 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Logan 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
Totals 14-43 9-12 18 11 39
Three-point goals - Manchester 0-2 (Siebrase 0-1, Vogel 0-1), Warsaw 1-8 (Clay 1-3, DeGeeter 0-2, Seiss 0-1, Scherer 0-1, Abbitt 0-1). Turnovers - Manchester 17, Warsaw 11. Assists - Manchester 10, Warsaw 5. Fouls - Manchester 12, Warsaw 14. Fouled out - Abbitt.
JV - Warsaw 28, Manchester 21
Warsaw scoring - Reichard 8, Tat 6, Davis 4, Timmons 2, Clark 2, Albertson 2, VanDeWater 2, Montel 2
Manchester scoring - Johnson 6, Bowers 5, O'Brien 4, Pyle 2, Zile 2, Seifert 2
