Girls Win Double-Overtime Thriller
27 Dec 2007

Free throws have been a thorn in the Manchester’s Lady Squires’ side at times this season.
Thursday night against Northfield, the Lady Squires attempted just two free throws through 32 minutes of play, but nailed 9-11 in two overtime periods to pull out a 61-57 win over their county rivals.
Sophomore Jessica Bedke led the Lady Squires in the overtime periods, hitting 5-5 from the free throw line and scoring seven points.
“I’ve always said that free throws are mental, and tonight, the girls showed the mental toughness it takes to not only hit the free throws in pressure situations, but to pull out a close game,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “We’ve shot free throws in practice, and put them in every possible situation to put pressure on the girls, but it’s impossible to simulate a game situation. I’m really proud of them for stepping up and knocking them down.”
Northfield coach Marlene Richter was also happy with her team’s effort, and looks forward to the teams’ rematch this weekend in the Wabash County Tournament.
“I told the girls that we played a good game, and it may help us next week, where we get to play them on our turf,” she said. “I think we’ll be ready to go.”
Northfield tried to take control of the game, taking a 12-7 lead late in the first quarter, but Audrey Johnson hit the first of her three 3-pointers to cut the lead to 12-10.
The Lady Norse tried to run away with it in the second quarter, but Johnson scored Manchester’s next six points to keep it close, cutting the lead to 22-16.
Katie Bowers got a steal and a lay up to make it 22-18, but Melissa Eltzroth, who led all scorers with 22 points, hit two free throws for a 24-18 lead.
Johnson got a steal and found a streaking Bowers for a lay up, but Eltzroth hit two more free throws with 12.7 seconds left in the half to give Northfield a 26-20 lead.
Julie Seifert made it a four point game with a shot with two seconds left, and that momentum seemed to carry into the second half.
Seifert opened the half with an offensive rebound put back, and Johnson hit her second 3-pointer of the game to give the Lady Squires their first lead since the 5:00 mark of the first quarter.
Bedke hit a jumper for a three point lead, but Karyn Wilcox cut it to 29-28 with an inside shot.
Bowers scored, followed by a free throw from Siefert for a 32-28 lead, and at the 4:02 mark, Bowers nailed a three pointer to make it 35-28.
Eltzroth countered with a three pointer, but Johnson had one more ace left, hitting a three pointer for a 38-31 lead.
Northfield clawed back into the game, going on a 9-0 run to take a 40-38 lead, but Kyla Zile tied it up on a pick and roll with Siefert.
Seifert scored on an inbounds pass to give the Lady Squires a 42-40 lead, but Eltzroth tied it up with two free throws.
Bowers and Zile both scored for a 46-42 lead, but Eltzroth hit four more free throws to tie the game up at 46-46.
After a Manchester turnover, Bowers got a steal in the backcourt and scored with 11.2 seconds left to give the Lady Squires a 48-46 lead, but Eltzroth broke free with four seconds left to hit a short baseline jumper to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Carly Mast hit two free throws, but Denae Pyle scored on an offensive rebound put back.
After a Northfield miss, Bedke scored on a three point play with 34.9 seconds left, but Wilcox countered with a three point play of her own with just 14.2 seconds left to send the game to a second overtime.
In the second extra period, it was all free throws for Manchester, with Bedke going 4-4, Bowers hitting 2-2, and Pyle and Johnson both going 1-2 to give the Lady Squires a 61-57 win.
“A few weeks ago, I wasn’t happy at all with the physical and mental effort of our team,” Underwood said. “The coaching staff challenged them, and they have responded in a real positive way. I was kind of hard on them, in fact, harder than I’ve been on possibly any team I’ve coached. But, they are good kids, and are giving the effort that we expect, and that they expect from themselves. This game was won not just by what we did tonight, but because of how they have been the last couple of weeks, and I’m proud of them.”
Johnson led Manchester with 16 points, while Bowers had 15 points, six steals, three rebounds, and three assists. Bedke had nine points, four steals, two assists and two rebounds, Zile had nine points and six rebounds, Seifert had seven points and four rebounds, and Pyle had five points and five rebounds.
The Lady Squires and Lady Norse go right back at it this Friday in the opening game of the Wabash County Tournament at 3:00 p.m. at Northfield High School.