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High school basketball returned to Kosciusko County on Wednesday night, as two area teams, Manchester and Wawasee, began their seasons against each other. After a close first quarter, it was the Lady Squires that found the separation they were looking for later on. With defense leading the way, Manchester started the campaign with a 54-24 home victory.
With it being the first game of the season for both teams, there were naturally some first-quarter jitters. After four and a half minutes of action, the two sides had combined for just one field goal and four points. After a timeout called by Manchester head coach Allie Kauffman, the teams seemed to have settled down, quickly making three shots in the span of a minute.
Making a difference in her first quarter of high school basketball was Wawasee freshman Addison Barger, who scored five points in the opening period to lead all scorers. Her final basket of the quarter was a triple that put her team up temporarily. It was the Lady Squires with the last laugh though, as sophomore Olivia Stevens drained a triple off the dribble in the closing seconds of the first to give her team a slim 11-10 lead heading into the second.
Momentum remained on Manchester’s side as the action resumed. Senior Peyton Ream got off to a blazing hot start to the period, scoring eight points in three minutes to extend her team’s lead to nine and force a timeout by her opponents.
The Lady Warriors remained scoreless for the quarter following the break, as the Lady Squire defense was applying a ton of pressure. Despite scoring just two points through the first 13 minutes of action, junior Emma Walker was making her impact felt all over the court with her suffocating defense. She’d make her second basket of the night to extend the lead to double figures.
At this point, Manchester was starting to pour it on. Walker’s offense was beginning to catch up to her defense and her team was now up by 16. Wawasee was finally able to end the drought on a free throw with 80 seconds left in the half, but still trailed by 18 at the break.
Just two minutes into the third quarter, the Manchester led had been extended to 20. The defense remained the catalyst for the home team, as the Lady Squires were able to turn their opponent over at will, turning their pesky defense into easy offense.
Wawasee sophomore Audra Weaver looks for an open teammate during Wednesday night's game at Manchester...Nieter
Offense remained a struggle for the visitors in the second half as well, as the team had still not made a field goal since the first quarter. Manchester was having no such difficulties, with the lead now at 25 with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game.
In the final minute of the third, another scoring burst by Ream extended the lead to over 30 and gave the senior 16 points on the night. As was the case the quarter prior, the Lady Warriors made a single free throw at the end of the period to avoid going scoreless. However, the Lady Squires had outscored them 33-2 over the last two quarters and the team had gone over 16 minutes without a field goal.
The streak of misses was finally broken as senior Taelyn Tom connected with a three in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Even though it was just one make, it seemed to energize the visitors, and Wawasee quickly broke off a 10-3 run.
It seemed to be a case of too little, too late though. As with less than four minutes left in the game, Manchester’s lead still hovered above 20. This was more than enough for them to cruise the rest of the way. Ream led all scorers with 16 points, while Walker joined her in double figures with eleven.
Manchester (1-0) will travel to Lewis Cass on Tuesday, while Wawasee (0-1) plays its home opener Saturday against Prairie Heights.
