Squires Winning Streak Ends At Columbia City
21 Feb 2008

The Columbia City Eagles had an answer for everything the Manchester Squires threw at them Friday night, running away with a 61-43 win.
The loss stopped a two game winning streak for the Squires, dropping them to 5-13 on the year.
“We just didn’t come ready to play tonight,” Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. “We fell behind early, and when you fall behind even six or seven points against a team like Columbia City, it’s almost like a 15 point deficit.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a patient, deliberate offensive attack.
Manchester finally got on the board with 3:44 left in the first quarter as Dan Bourne cut the lead in half with a three pointer.
Columbia City’s Jordan Moss and David Cable traded baskets, but the Eagles closed the quarter with a 7-2 run, including a three point play from Moss. Moss scored nine first quarter points to help the Eagles take a 15-7 lead at the end of the first.
“We didn’t double down on Moss as well as we wanted to and he hurt us inside,” Goshert said of the 6’4” post player.
Columbia City increased their 7-2 run to 15-2 with eight straight points to start the second quarter, including two three pointers, one from Jake Sittler, and another from Matt Schmidt.
The Squires fought back, however, as Jody Griggs started a 9-3 run with a three pointer. Cable followed with a jumper, and Spenser Penrod made it 23-14 with a short turn around jump shot.
Tim Briggs answered with a three pointer, but Aaron Medley cut it to 26-16 with two free throws.
“I liked how we didn’t just fold up the tents in the second quarter,” Goshert said. “We got a few stops on defense, and executed on offense. We needed a little more of that throughout the game.”
The second half started much like the first half did, as the Eagles raced out to a 9-2 run, including seven straight points from Moss. Moss finished with 18 points.
Meanwhile, the Eagles were focused on Bourne, who ended the game with 10 points, seven of them coming in the final 3:17 with the game out of reach.
“Columbia City is a good team who has been playing some good basketball lately,” Goshert said. “We’ve been playing some pretty good basketball lately too. But, I think we took a step backwards tonight. We didn’t go after loose balls like we should have. We made some silly passes. We had three traveling calls against us. The little things hurt us tonight.
“If we can focus on what we are supposed to do, and get a little bit tougher on the floor, we can be a pretty darn good basketball team,” he continued. “If we continue to get outhustled, we are in for long nights. I know this team has it in them to do some pretty good things, but we have to work at it.”
Bourne led the Squires with 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Cable had eight points, four rebounds, and two assists, Corey Thomas had eight points, including going 6-6 from the free throw line, Penrod had five points and two rebounds, Medley had four points, three rebounds, and three assists, Griggs had three points, Pattison had two points and four assists, and Scott Baker had one point and one assist.
The Squires will host Huntington North to wrap up the regular season this Friday with JV tip off at 6:15 p.m.
Manchester also drew Wabash in the opening game of the Lewis Cass Sectional, which starts Tuesday night, February 26 at 6:00 p.m. Wabash and Manchester split their first two games this season with Manchester beating the Apaches in the Wabash County Tournament 63-42, and Wabash topping the Squires 69-56 on January 11.