Lady Squires Topple Southwood
22 Jan 2009

by Eric Christiansen
What a difference two weeks make.
In the opening game of the Wabash County Tournament, Southwood led Manchester 20-13 late in the first half before the Lady Squires pulled away for a 20 point win.
Monday night, there would be no first half scare as Manchester jumped out to a 17-3 lead late in the first quarter, and led by as many as 32 points before cruising to a 66-40 win.
The win improves the Lady Squires’ record to 7-6 and 2-3 in the Three Rivers Conference.
“The last time we played them, and in our last game against Wabash, we came out a little flat and let the other team get on a roll,” Manchester coach Mark Underwood said. “Saturday night, it ended up being the start of the end for us against Wabash.
“I’m happy with the way we played right from the beginning,” he continued. “We played hard, and the thing is, even when we brought people off the bench, they were focused too.”
The starters got things going for Manchester, with Amber Fratus, Noelle Patrick, and Katie Bowers all getting on the board for a 10-3 lead.
Late in the first quarter, the bench players got in on the action, scoring seven straight points, including five from Meika Kennedy.
“With four games this week, we really wanted to use the bench as much as we could so we have a little gas left in the tank when we play Rochester this Saturday,” Underwood said. “It’s really encouraging to see several different players do some positive things. It’s neat to see Meika getting more into a comfort zone out there and feel comfortable doing some things.”
Kennedy scored 10 first half points to lead the Lady Squires into the locker room with a 35-16 lead.
They put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring Southwood 17-4 in the first six minutes of the quarter to lead 52-20. In that run, Bowers had eight points and two assists, while Jessica Bedke had seven points.
Southwood’s Abby Harness led Southwood with 16 points, most of them inside the paint.
“We had a hart time with Harness inside,” Underwood said. “You have to give her some credit for that.”
Overall, Underwood was pleased with how his team responded to Saturday’s loss to Wabash.
“It was good to see Jess (Bedke) get back into the swing of things,” he said. “The offense was really flowing against Wabash, but tonight, she got back into it.
“Overall, it was a total team effort,” he continued. “To have 10 of our 11 players score is great. Becka Guthrie didn’t score, but she did a lot of good things on the defensive end of the floor.”
Bowers led Manchester with 13 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals, committing only two turnovers.
“Katie did a lot of good things for us last year, but where she has really improved this year is limiting her turnovers,” Underwood said. “To handle the ball as much as she did and only commit two turnovers is really good.”
Bedke also had 13 points, grabbed four rebounds, and had three assists.
Kennedy finished with 10 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Fratus had seven points and 11 rebounds.
Hannah Little had four points and three rebounds, Erika Milam had four points and two rebounds, Emily Hill had two points and three rebounds, Hanna Schmidt had two points and three rebounds, Josi Cripe had two points and one rebound, and Guthrie had three rebounds.