Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊTwo boys basketball teams heading in different directions met Saturday night, and after the game had ended, they kept right on going their same ways.
Wawasee edged Manchester 46-44. Wawasee, at one point 2-10, won its third straight to improve to 5-10. Manchester, at one point 6-3, lost its seventh straight to fall to 6-10. The loss followed Manchester's 45-38 Friday loss at Churubusco, a game the Squires led 35-25 after three quarters, only to have the Eagles outscore them 20-3 in the final quarter.
Talking about seven straight losses is something Manchester coach Gary Goshert would prefer to avoid.
"We're not into that," he said. "We're not even thinking about it. If you think about something like that, you're liable to start thinking, 'Oh my Lord, we have this big hog on our back and we have to get rid of it.' We don't talk about it. We talk about getting better."
On the other side, first-year Wawasee coach Robb Berger talked in the "it's about time this started happening" tone. After a 2-10 start, he's not sure why the Warriors have started winning games.
"It seems like it's taken forever," he said. "I don't know why it's sunk in now. Maybe it was the transition period. Maybe they feel comfortable with what we're doing now. I don't know. For whatever reason, I hope it stays there."
The three straight wins follow a home loss to a Goshen team that at the time was 1-9, a loss that left Berger reeling.
"I was basically honest with them after that game," he said. "I told them they don't have a chance if they don't work hard. We can't guarantee they will win if they work hard, but they do give themselves a chance. That's all you can ask."
Neither Manchester nor Wawasee shot the ball well. Manchester finished 14 of 38 (37 percent) from the field, while Wawasee was 15 of 45 (33 percent). The Squires were missing David Bazzoni, who is sidelined with an illness.
"Our shot selection has been good, we've moved the ball and got it in good position to shoot from," Goshert said. "We're just not making them. You saw it tonight."
Said Berger: "Tonight was an ugly offensive game, but we hung around and played pretty solid defense. We stayed with it and gave ourselves a chance to win it."
Senior forward Jeremy High hit 7 of 10 field goals, scored 18 and snared eight rebounds to lead Wawasee. Senior guard R.J. Wilson added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Reserve guard Anthony Frieden led Manchester with nine points. Senior forward Lee Shafer added eight.
Poor shooting has been Manchester's downfall during the streak, and although Wawasee played zone against Manchester, Berger's teams play zone no matter who they face.
How they got there may have been different, but as the overall records indicate, the teams have had similar seasons. And on the court, the two teams proved evenly matched. The biggest lead by either team was six points by Wawasee, and the first three quarter scores ended at 10-8, 17-16 and 30-28, all with the Warriors in front.
Offense came at a premium in the first half. The Squires were not using smoke and mirrors on the court, but they might as well have: At the end of the first half, they had three field goals, yet somehow trailed by one at 17-16. How did they stay in the game? Free throws. The majority of the first-half points came on foul shots as they were 10 of 12 from the free throw line.
After no offense in the first half, neither team could stop the other in the fourth quarter. Wawasee kept trying to pull away, taking a 42-36 lead with 2:19 left. A Manchester team with three field goals in the first half responded with two three-pointers by the same player, junior Klay Bechtold. Bechtold's two three-pointers - his only baskets in the game - evened the game at 42-42 with 1:29 left.
The Warriors pushed the lead to 46-42 with 44 seconds left after two free throws each by Wilson and Travis Klenke.
Shafer cut the lead to two with a basket with 28 seconds left, and then with 21 seconds left, he stole the ball from Wawasee.
But High returned the favor, picking off a pass with 15 seconds left. On their end, the Warriors missed a couple of shots, and the ball went out of bounds and to Manchester with 4.6 seconds left.
The Squires, who had to go three-quarters of the court, never got a shot off in the final 4.6 seconds. Sophomore Matt Stoops, up off the junior varsity team and making a varsity start, dribbled around and into traffic. The horn sounded, giving Wawasee the win.
"We had a chance to tie, but those kind of things happen," Goshert said. "You have to react in those situations with four seconds to go."
The Squires will try to end their seven-game losing streak when they host Lakewood Park Friday.
"We've played well enough defensively to win a lot of basketball games," Goshert said. "We've had trouble at the offensive end. In the month of January up through (Friday's) game, we're shooting in the 30 percentiles. That puts a lot of pressure on you defensively to not shoot the ball any better than that.
"Nobody said it would be a bed of roses and that everything would work right every year. If you hang tough, you'll get something positive out of it."
WAWASEE 46, MANCHESTER 44
Manchester (6-10) 8 8 12 16 - 44
Wawasee (5-10) 10 7 13 16 - 46
Manchester FG FT A S R Pts.
Shafer (F) 3-8 2-2 0 4 4 8
Young (F) 1-2 5-6 1 0 1 7#
Lochner (C) 2-6 2-2 2 0 6 6
Miller (G) 2-4 0-0 2 0 5 4
Stoops (G) 2-4 0-0 1 0 3 4
Frieden 2-7 3-4 0 1 1 9
Bechtold 2-4 0-0 2 1 2 6
Kerr 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0
Sorg 0-1 0-0 0 1 2 0
Totals 14-38 12-14 8 7 24 44
Wawasee FG FT A S R Pts.
High (F) 7-10 3-4 0 2 8 18
Wilson (G) 5-12 3-3 5 1 7 16
Klenke (G) 1-6 3-4 0 1 4 6
Gradle (F) 1-5 2-2 0 0 2 4
Speicher (G) 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Packer 1-6 0-0 2 0 2 2
Doty 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 0
Farrell 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Adkins 0-2 0-0 1 3 0 0
Beer 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 15-45 11-13 10 7 25 46
Three-point goals -ÊWawasee 5-12 (Wilson 3-4, Klenke 1-3, High 1-1, Doty 0-3, Adkins 0-1), Manchester 4-10 (Bechtold 2-4, Frieden 2-3, Shafer 0-3). Turnovers -ÊWawasee 11, Manchester 15. Fouled out - None. Total Fouls -ÊWawasee 15, Manchester 12.
JV: WAWASEE 54, MANCHESTER 37
Wawasee (7-8) - Justin VanLue 22, Andy Popenfoose 10, Mike Ellsworth 8, Clint Custer 6, Scott Beasley 5, Kyle Lantz 2, Greg Abbs 1.
Manchester (9-7) - Michael Sorg 10, Todd Dale 9, Brent Westendorf 8, Klint Rupley 4, Heath Haynes 4, Jediah Carandante 1, Dustin Simcoe 1.
