The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Dutchmen eliminate Jonesville
Every brings spark off bench as Manchester moves on to semifinals
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 28, 2008
A senior got the Manchester varsity boys' basketball team started, and a sophomore helped put it over the top.
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Thanks to another big performance by Justin Welton and a spark off the bench from Clayton Every, the Flying Dutchmen kept their season alive with a 40-31 victory over the Jonesville Comets in the first round of the Class C district tournament Monday at Jonesville High School.
Manchester (9-12) advanced to Wednesday's district semifinal, where it will face Hudson. Jonesville (8-13) saw its season come to an end on its home court.
Both teams struggled offensively throughout the game, missing several chances in the paint. The Dutchmen finally grabbed momentum early in the fourth quarter and twice built a seven-point lead. Jonesville pulled to within three, but Manchester capitalized on its free throw opportunities in the final 1:20 to close the game with an 8-2 run.
Manchester grabbed 17 rebounds on the night, which head coach Bryan Barnard said he thought was a key factor coming into the game.
"We knew it would be a hard game on their home court, but we did a solid job rebounding," Barnard said. "We really concentrated on boxing out and getting hold of the ball, and our defense kept us in the game."
Welton opened the game with a pair of three-pointers, then Trevor Hanewald hit a pair at the free-throw line, giving Manchester an 8-3 lead. The Comets fought back with consecutive baskets by Mitchell Miller and Benjamin Stemen's layup off a steal, but Welton scored on a putback and Every hit a jumper, giving the Dutchmen a 12-9 lead after the first quarter.
Manchester went cold after that, going scoreless until there was 1:52 remaining in the second quarter. However, Jonesville was only able to build a 14-12 lead thanks to a free throw by Chase Jacks and inside baskets by Matthew Magda and Bion Thompson. Jarod Sawyer tied the game with a putback, then Sam Brown hit 1-of-2 from the line within the final minute, giving the Dutchmen a 15-14 lead at halftime.
"We missed a lot of early layups and easy shots," Barnard said. "We wanted to push the ball, but it was very hard to score. We didn't see a 2-3 zone during the regular season."
Miller gave the Comets the lead after scoring on a drive in the opening minute of the third quarter, then Logan Jenkins hit a pair of free-throws, making it 18-15. The teams exchanged free throws until Every pulled the Dutchmen even with an inside basket with 57 seconds left in the frame. Every struck again, sinking a leaning shot with one second left, giving Manchester a 23-21 lead entering the fourth.
A jumper by Sawyer and a three-pointer from Welton extended the lead to seven, but Jonesville still had life.
Corwin Every was called for a traveling violation with 4:57 remaining, then was hit with a technical foul after spiking the ball in frustration.
Thompson hit both free throws, then Jenkins followed with an inside basket, bringing the Comets to within 28-25.
Welton answered in the paint midway through the quarter, then Randy Kleinschmidt forced a Jonesville turnover and scored a fast-break layup to restore Manchester's seven-point edge. The Comets again pulled to within three, but Clayton Every drove to the basket, scored and drew a foul with 2:05 remaining. He converted the traditional three-point play, giving the Dutchmen a 35-29 lead.
"Clayton gave us a big lift off the bench," Barnard said. "He finished a lot of shots while drawing contact."
Manchester put the game away at the free-throw line down the stretch, hitting 5-of-6 from the stripe in the final 1:20, while its defense forced the Comets to put up desperation shots that didn't fall through.
Welton finished with a game-high 18 points to lead the Dutchmen. He also grabbed five rebounds. Clayton Every added 11 points, while Sawyer scored six points and handed out six assists. Trevor Hanewald grabbed five rebounds to go with two points for Manchester.
"Justin has been steady for us all year long, and Sawyer passed the ball well against their zone tonight," Barnard said.
No one scored in double figures for Jonesville. Miller led the way with eight points, while Jenkins added six points. Stemen, Jacks and Thompson each scored six points for the Comets.
The Class C district semifinals took place Wednesday evening after the newspaper's deadline. The Manchester/Hudson winner will face the Hanover-Horton/Hillsdale winner in the Class C district final Friday at Jonesville.
"We've scouted Hudson and they play a lot of man-to-man defense," Barnard said. "We'll have to readjust was we've been practicing for the past couple of days. The beauty of districts is that you never know what can happen."
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