A year ago the Lady Panthers walked off the court after a disappointing 57-32 loss to Smithville in the District championship hoping to get another shot at the Smithies.
Manchester got that wish last Saturday afternoon at the Wooster Triway Division III girls cage tournament, but it ended it in same result as Smithville dominated the Lady Panthers from start-to-finish, running away with a 65-36 victory and earning their second consecutive trip to the regionals.
The Smithies, whose only loss this season came in their opener to Loudonville 41-40, jumped out to a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the ballgame, and Manchester had to face a uphill climb the remainder of the affair.
"We knew we had our hands full against them," said coach Tucker Pappas. "They (Smithville) play good fundamentally sound basketball. They pass the ball well, move well and can shoot the ball. We knew we had to be at our best to beat them."
"After we fell behind early, we knew that we were in trouble."
Smithville (23-1) went on to extend their cushion to 19-10 after one quarter of play. The black and red would cut the deficit to 23-15 with 4:57 showing in the second following two free throws by Karla Horvat, and a basket by Michelle Noble, but hit a dry spell the reminder of the half as they were outscored 10-0 and trailed 33-15 at the intermission.
"We made a little run to cut it to eight points, but they came back with a couple of quick baskets, and made some defensive stops," said Pappas. "They took away any of our momentum."
The Smithies upped their lead to 20 points (40-20) in the third only to see the Panthers go on a 6-0 run to pull within 40-26 with 2:26 remaining, but that's as close as they would come the rest of the way.
"I'm proud of our girls, because they battled to the end," stated Pappas. "They didn't quit. You have to give them (Smithville) all the credit. The way they played and shot today there's not a whole lot of teams that are going to beat them."
Junior Morgan Vanscoy had 14 points and three assists in a losing effort for Manchester (22-2).
Four players hit double-digits for Smithville led by All-Ohioan Jeanna Pew with 22 points. Alex Leister, Kylie Frizell, and Tara Schaffter each tallied 10.
The Lady Panthers shot 31 percent from the field (13 of 42), and 50 percent from the line (6 of 12), compared to the Smithies 59 percent (24 of 41), and 81 percent (13 of 16).
The game mark the end of the careers of four players Karla Horvat, Amber Silver, Jackie Bonnett and Kayla Matheny.
According to Pappas those players will be hard to replace, and will be truly missed. "We had a great senior class from top-to-bottom," he said. "It's the most positive group I've ever coached. They truly loved to play the game, and being around it."
About the season, Pappas concluded by saying, "We're disappointed with our finish, but looking back I couldn't be happier with the way the season went. After losing Karla (Horvat) a lot of people had us written off. The seniors and underclassmen really stepped up and held everything together. My sophomores really took advantage of the opportunity they were given and the juniors stepped in and helped with the leadership duties and everything else."
"This was a real special group. We haven't won 20 games since I have been coaching, and it feels good to put down 22 wins. This is the best team I have had with such incredible depth."
Manchester 54, Orrville 44
The Lady Panthers secured their second consecutive appearance in the district finals as they slipped past second-seeded Orrville 54-44 on March 4 at the Triway Division III girls basketball tournament.
Manchester, who entered the game with a 19-game winning streak, hit nine of 12 free throws in the final 1:56 to seal the victory.
Junior guard Brooke Tabaka came up huge for the Lady Panthers in the contest as she poured in a career-high 20 points, including a 11-of-12 effort for the charity stripe.
She also received help from Horvat with 11 points, and Vanscoy with 10. Bonnett contributed a nine rebounds.
Orrville (20-3) was paced by junior Hillary Plybon with 16 points, and 12 rebounds.
Manchester, who defeated the Red Riders 73-51 during the regular season, trailed 11-8 after one quarter of play, but used a 26-14 scoring barrage in the second to move ahead 34-25 at halftime. The two teams played nearly even-up in the second half with the Panthers holding a slim 20-19 margin.
"We knew Orrville was going to be hungry," said Pappas. "That's how we felt when we lost to them in the regular season last year. We knew coming in they were going to lay it on the line."
"We were able to overcome a slow start tonight. I feel our depth was a key. It wore them (Orrville) out some. We were also able to hit our free throws at the end. We're happy to advance."
The Lady Panthers finished the game making 15 of 36 field goal tries (42 percent), and 20 of 28 foul shots (71 percent) to the Red Riders 14 of 48 (29 percent), and 12 of 17 (71 percent).
