Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester basketball coach Gary Goshert started to walk through the locker room door when someone reached out and stopped him.
This man had something to say to Coach, and he was going to get it off his chest now.
"Hey, good job Coach," he told Goshert. "Love that defense."
Aah, the defense. Until a few weeks ago, Goshert wasn't sure what to make of his team. He spoke on a talk radio sports show Friday evening after his team drubbed Churubusco 70-41. Gary from Manchester calling in. He told the talk show host about how his varsity team would get beat by the junior varsity team in practice in December and even into early January.
Three weeks ago, that changed. Practices are good now, and Goshert thinks that's why Manchester's play is improving each week, especially the defense.
The Squire ballhawks have held Whitko to 47 points, Tippecanoe Valley to 41 points and Churubusco to 41 the last three games.
They are doing it by forcing turnovers and then taking care of the ball when they have it. Valley and Churubusco lost the ball a combined 37 times against Manchester. The Squires threw the ball away just seven total times against those two teams.
Manchester, 10-6, has won three games in a row. The Squires have also won four in a row at home, where they are 6-2.
It all goes back to the good practices, Goshert said.
"When you do things in practice at game tempo, that's what makes you confident," Goshert said.
Against Churubusco, the defensive game plan was to shut down the Eagles' inside game. With six-foot-four senior center Josh Kirchner and 6-3 forward Todd Fleetwood, two bruisers, the Eagles possessed a potent post game. The duo leads Churubusco in scoring.
What the Eagles didn't have, Goshert knew, was deadeye perimeter shooters.
The game played out just like Goshert hoped it would. The Squires led 31-17 at halftime. All of Churubusco's points came in the paint or at the free throw line. The Squire defense pressured and trapped the Eagles near halfcourt, forcing 10 first-half turnovers. The Squires had one turnover at halftime.
Churubusco closed within 10, 45-35, at the end of the third quarter. The Squires pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Churubusco 25-6. The Squires hit 16 of 19 free throws in the quarter. Shooting guard Eric Swan scored 11 points in the last quarter, including 7 of 7 at the free throw line.
Churubusco coach Ross Hales, unhappy with a referee, drew a double technical foul and was kicked out of the game with 2:48 left. Swan made four free throws, and the Squires led 56-37.
Swan led Manchester with 24 points, and center Chris Enyeart added 15.
Fleetwood led Churubusco with 12 points, and Kirchner added 11.
The Squires got ahead, and Churubusco didn't have the firepowerto catch up.
"Their game is inside, as it should be with the type of players hey have," Goshert said. "They (Kirchner or Fleetwood) weren't able to score 15 or anything like that against us."
Manchester hosts Wawasee this evening.
