The Manchester Squires don’t need to look too far back to glean some hopefully useful information on first-round opponent Bluffton in the Class 2A South Adams girls basketball sectional.
Conversely, they need to look way back to find a season as accomplished as this one.
Taking that second item first, third-year coach Allie Kauffman’s Squires enter the sectional with a 14-8 record. They’re on pace for the program’s best finish in five years and second-best in 12. Further, their eight-win improvement is the school’s best one-season jump in 20 years, and they’ve earned five more wins than in Kauffman’s first two seasons combined.
“I’m very happy to see how much we’ve improved and grown,” Kauffman said. “We’ve been so young and inexperienced the last couple years, and this year we finally had some experience back. Those first two years were very process-focused, more than outcome-focused, but we’ve become pretty good, and at some point we need to celebrate it.”
That point’s not quite yet, not with Bluffton (16-6) looming in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. sectional opener. The host Tigers beat the Squires 64-49 just last week, and first-year Bluffton boss Doug Curtis has won at least one sectional at every one of his previous four stops while compiling a 278-177 record across 20 seasons.
“There were a lot of good things and a lot of things we need to change,” Kauffman said of last week’s matchup. “One of our focuses was to outrebound them because they’re very scrappy and get a lot of points off that, and then they come out and get their first seven points off offensive rebounds. That killed us a little bit, so it’s good for our girls to see that with small changes, we can be right there. Bluffton also shot 50% on 3s and that’s not normally their game. Their game’s normally inside.”
Manchester trimmed a seven-point halftime deficit to two points in the third quarter before the Tigers stretched the margin out with some of those 3s.
“The final score doesn’t show how close it was,” Kauffman said. “I was pleased with our second-half effort, and I think Tuesday can be much different.”
Standout junior point guard Brookelynn Buzzard, senior posts Gracie Lauer and Kim Scholl, sophomores Peyton Ream and Hadley West, and freshman Emma Walker are among those the Squires are counting on to help make it different.
Buzzard’s averaging 15.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals. Walker’s at 10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals; Lauer 7.4 points and 7.8 rebounds; Ream 6.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals; Scholl 3.9 points and 4.1 rebounds; and West 3.7 points, 4.o rebounds and 2.0 assists.
“Brookelynn’s obviously been key, but we’re a team that on any given night six or seven girls can score in double figures and that’s been important in taking some of the pressure off her,” Kauffman said. “Gracie and Kim have done a great job in the paint, and we’ve got some young blood that’s really helped out. The beauty of our team is when somebody is struggling, somebody steps up.”
Manchester has not shot particularly high percentages on the season, but “our defense is what’s taken us to the next level,” according to Kauffman.
“On nights we’re not scoring, we can count on our defensive energy,” the coach said. “Shots falling you can’t always control, but defense is something we can control, and crashing (the glass) is something we can do. We’re averaging about 15 offensive rebounds. We’ve also got a lot of athleticism and can push it when shots aren’t falling.”
The Squires are seeking their 10th sectional title, but first since 2007, and if they can solve Bluffton in what will happen to be Manchester’s 100th postseason game all-time, the path will remain rugged with No. 11-ranked bye team Fort Wayne Luers (14-6) waiting in Friday’s opening semifinal, then perhaps Whitko (18-3) in Saturday’s championship.
“We’ll have to play the three best teams,” Kauffman said. “It’s going to be very difficult, but it’s also kind of exciting.”