Varsity Dutchmen look forward to District play this week

Preston MacKenzie shooting a three-pointer last Wednesday. Photo courtesy Zach Neal.

Manchester’s varsity basketball team finished out its regular season last week, playing three games against Conference rivals.

Monday, the Dutch faced a 44-33 loss against Addison.

“It was a game of missed opportunities,” said head coach Zach Neal. “We continued to get good looks at the basket but couldn’t convert; unfortunately that is how it goes in basketball sometimes. We played hard and did a lot of things really well, so the improvement is still visible.”

Preston MacKenzie and Anthony Bargardi continued their hot shooting streaks, with both achieving three, 3-pointers in the game.

On Wednesday, the Dutch met up with Napoleon at home for Senior Night. The final score was 76-28, but “the score was not indicative of the way we played,” Neal said.

MacKenzie led the team in scoring with 10 points, while Ryan Mann had seven points and a career high of 18 rebounds. Senior Logan Kennedy made the first 3-pointer of his career. The team was beyond excited for that moment.

“We continue to get really good opportunities to score, but we’re struggling to convert them,” Neal said. “This is a point of emphasis for us going into district week.”
On Friday night, the Dutch traveled to Vandercook Lake to meet the Jayhawks, where they fell by a score of 81-24. Again, the scoreboard didn’t adequately reflect the Dutchmen’s overall efforts.

“We hung with them in the first quarter but then they caught fire from the three,” Neal explained. “Vandercook finished with 12 three-pointers, which made them tough to beat. We knew they could really shoot and we had to guard them out to 25 feet … but we missed a couple of assignments and they made us pay.”

Jaxon McGuigan returned from illness to score nine points to lead Manchester offensively.

“This has been a very difficult season on the scoreboard, but we’ve moved all of our attention to districts on Thursday,” Neal concluded. “We’re going to take it one game at a time, but are confident we can advance.”

The District game will be Thursday at 5:30 pm in Hudson, where the Dutch will meet Adrian Lenawee Christian. Good luck, Dutch!

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.