Girls' Basketball Team Wins On Senior Night
05 Feb 2009

by Eric Christiansen
In a game with no ties or lead changes, the Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings had to wait until the final seconds of their tilt with the Manchester Lady Squires to clinch the outright Three Rivers Conference championship, 54-53.
The Lady Vikings held an 11 point lead over Manchester with 2:33 left in the game, but the Lady Squires mounted a furious rally, making it a one possession game with under a minute left.
Noelle Patrick went to the line with Manchester down 53-42, but missed both free throws. Amber Fratus grabbed the offensive rebound from the second miss and was fouled.
Fratus converted on both of her free throws to cut the lead to single digits.
Thirty seconds later, Katie Bowers went 1-2 from the line, but Fratus was instrumental on the defensive end of the floor, tipping a Valley pass and saving it as she fell out of bounds.
Jessica Bedke benefited from the same, hitting a three pointer with 1:11 left to make it a 53-48 game.
The Lady Vikings turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play, and Bowers found Fratus slashing to the basket to cut the lead to 53-50 with 1:09 to play.
Valley’s Whitney Sparkman, who gave the Lady Squires fits inside with 14 points, missed the front end of a one and one, but the Lady Squires turned the ball over with 40 seconds left.
With 19.3 seconds remaining, Melody Hoffer also missed the front end of a one and one, but a three pointer from Bedke was off the mark.
Hannah Boggs was fouled with 9.5 seconds left and finally made it a two possession game for the Lady Vikings, hitting 1-2 from the line.
A last second three pointer from Bedke made it a one point game, but it was a case of too little, too late.
“Nothing was easy in the TRC, and this game was no different,” Lady Viking coach Gary Teel said. “We missed a couple of one and ones that gave Manchester a couple of opportunities to score and they hit a couple of big threes.
“Winning the TRC is an outstanding accomplishment,” Teel continued. “I’m so happy for our kids.”
Manchester coach Mark Underwood was no less pleased with the performance of his team as well.
“You can’t fault their effort,” he said. “As a coach, you take the players you have and try to come as close to your potential as you can, and the nice thing is that we continue to improve.
“I’m so proud of the girls because they never gave up,” he added. “Late in the game, we’re down 10 points or so, and I think a lot of teams would have folded up the tents at that point, but these kids just never gave up and continued to get after it.”
Tippecanoe Valley took an early 8-0 lead, but Manchester chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 19-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Manchester hit four three pointers in the first quarter, three from Patrick and one from Bowers.
After an even second quarter, Patrick cut the lead to 29-27 to open the second half.
Sparkman scored inside for Valley, but Fratus nailed a three pointer to make it a 31-30 game.
Valley went on a 6-0 run to give themselves some breathing room, but Bowers hit two more three pointers, while Patrick hit her fourth to cut the lead to 44-41 at the end of the third.
Fratus made it a 44-42 ball game with a free throw, but the Lady Vikings took control on both ends of the floor, scoring nine straight points while holding the Lady Squires scoreless nearly five minutes. Manchester went without a basket for nearly eight minutes until Bedke hit her first three pointer late in the game.
“Manchester’s kids did an outstanding job,” Teel said. “Mark does an outstanding job with his program. Those kids came out and played their hearts out, and you have to give them credit. They hit some big shots, and I wish them the best of luck in the tournament.”
“You have to feel good when your kids have that kind of work ethic and that type of togetherness,” Underwood said of his team. “We have several players who are really interested in the good of the team, and don’t care how it gets done, as long as it gets done. It’s just an honor to be around them.”
Patrick led Manchester with 16 points, hitting four three pointers. She also grabbed four rebounds.
Bowers had 15 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, while Fratus had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bedke added 10 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
Win over Triton
Triton gave their best effort to ruin Manchester’s senior night, but a 27-4 Lady Squire run made sure Manchester got the last laugh.
The Lady Squires improved to 11-6 with the 64-40 win, helping the five Manchester seniors finish on top in their last home game of their careers.
“I’m so proud of my five seniors. Josi Cripe, Amber Fratus, Noelle Patrick, Becka Guthrie, and Katie Bowers all had a great final home game at Manchester High School,” Underwood said.
Triton made it a little tougher than Manchester would have liked in the first quarter, taking a 7-2 lead.
Manchester battled back with an 8-0 run, led by six straight points from Bedke, but Triton finished the quarter with a 17-13 lead after a 10-3 run of their own.
From that point on, it was all Manchester.
The Lady Squires outscored Triton 23-4 in the second quarter to take a 36-21 halftime lead.
Patrick hit three three-pointers, while Bowers scored seven points in the quarter.
In the third quarter, Bowers added seven more, while Fratus scored six, as the Lady Squires took a commanding 54-30 lead.
Bowers had 18 points, six assists, six steals, and five rebounds in her final home game. Bedke had 15 points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Patrick had 12 points, three assists, and two rebounds, and Fratus had 11 points, six rebounds, and three steals.
Erika Milam had four points, while Emily Hill and Meika Kennedy both had two points.
Loss To Peru
The Lady Squires lost to a tough Peru team 59-41 Thursday night.
Manchester fell behind 13-5 after one quarter, but used a 22-17 second quarter to cut it to 30-27 at halftime.
But Peru outscored the Lady Squires 17-10 in the third, and 12-4 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
“We had a great second quarter and shot well from the line, but we couldn’t seem to get much going in the other three quarters,” Underwood said.
Patrick led the Lady Squires with 13 points, including three three-pointers, and grabbed six rebounds.
Fratus had 11 points, six rebounds, and three steals, while Bedke had nine points and two assists. Bowers was held to six points, but had seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Kennedy had two points, two rebounds, and two steals.
Manchester completes their regular season this Thursday at South Adams.
Manchester drew the bye in the Wabash Sectional and will play the winner of the Wabash-North Miami game on Friday, February 13 at 7:45 p.m.