The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Dutchmen gear up for March Madness
Manchester will face Clinton or Jonesville in district semifinals
By Ed Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 1, 2007
It's time for the "madness" to begin for high school boys' basketball teams as the state playoffs commence next week.
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Many schools will begin district play Monday night, while others have a bye until Wednesday's semifinals.
The Manchester varsity boys' basketball team falls into the later category, as it received a bye until Wednesday's semifinals of the Class C district tournament at Clinton High School. The Flying Dutchmen got the bye thanks to the Michigan High School Athletic Association's drawing of the brackets.
The Clinton district features two traditional powerhouses, a surging team, and three up-and-coming squads that are looking to make noise. Along with the host Redskins, Manchester will be joined by reigning Cascades Conference champion Hanover-Horton. Addison, Hudson and Jonesville make up the rest of the field.
Monday's first-round games pit Hudson against Hanover-Horton and Clinton facing Jonesville. The Flying Dutchmen will face the Clinton/Jonesville winner Wednesday, while Addison gets the Hanover/Hudson winner in the semifinals.
The district finals will take place March 9.
"We think we have a good chance to go far, but we'll have to play well like we did during our recent hot stretch," Manchester coach Bryan Barnard said. "It's going to take work, but the kids have been dedicated to that work."
The Dutchmen enter as one of the hottest teams in the district. As of Tuesday, Manchester posted a 7-3 record in his last 10 games. The team has enjoyed a resurgence this season. After opening the campaign with eight straight losses, the Dutchmen ran off eight wins in nine games, including six in a row from Jan. 26 to Feb. 15.
"Getting through going 0-8 and coming back showed a lot about the character of the guys," Barnard said.
Despite being hot, the Dutchmen know reaching the district final won't be an easy task. Hanover-Horton is the odds on favorite and swept both meetings from Manchester this season. Clinton features a strong inside-outside game and will be playing on its home court. The Redskins also defeated Manchester in the season opener Dec. 5.
"It's nice to get a second chance," Barnard said. "Just because you had one bad night against a team in the regular season doesn't mean you can't beat them."
One strength the Dutchmen have enjoyed was different players stepping up. Senior Greg Schaible leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.3 points a night, while classmate Jake LaCross gives Manchester a strong presence inside.
Role players Nick Ball, Kevin Fielder, Zach Benedict and Sam Brown have been effective on both ends of the court, while Randy Kleinschmidt gives the Dutchmen another scoring threat off the bench.
Before entering districts, Manchester will play its final regular season game Friday at home against Ann Arbor Greenhills.
"The kids are excited to be playing in the second round, but right now we're concentrating on Friday," Barnard said.
In last year's district tournament at Hanover-Horton, the Dutchmen were eliminated in the first round by the host Comets. Hanover then defeated Clinton and Jonesville to capture the district title.
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