Late shots don't fall as 21st Century loses to Manchester

Unfortunately, that chance slipped away with too many missed opportunities in the Cougars semistate championship against Manchester on Saturday night. 

Earlier in the day 21st defeated No. 1 Wapahani for the 2A semistate semifinal hosted by Michigan City. Coach James Scott said that first win likely prevented another. 

"I don't think we were mentally prepared because we came off a big win earlier against Wapahani," Scott said. "I think we overlooked this team and they played their best game, probably of the year."

The Squires held a lead that extended to 10 points throughout all four quarters. They were up 45-35 heading into the final eight minutes. 

21st Century pounced on Manchester's late–game errors as the Squires had six turnovers and went scoreless until 1:16 left of regulation. The Cougars cut the deficit to one in the final minute of regulation, but it wasn't enough to overcome Manchester.

21st fell 53-50.

Scott wasn't afraid to note his team played one of its worst games of the season, emphasizing their 14 missed layups. 

"It took us to get down to stay focused and try to come back," he said. "That's because we were actually focused on not losing, instead of being focused like that the entire game."

Junior Terrence Hayes Jr. put up 21 for the Cougars, followed by Ronald Mosley with 11. Hayes said one of his team's biggest downfalls was failing to snag offensive rebounds. 

Senior Lemetrius Williams said 21st simply failed to score at all three levels. 

"Don't underestimate anybody because it'll turn out the opposite way," Williams said after the game. 

Manchester's 6-foot-6 forward Gavin Betten carried the Squires with a game-high 22 points. Ethan Hendrix added 16, which included three 3-pointers. 

The Cougars were seeking the program's first-ever semistate championship. 21st Century made back-to-back semistate appearances in 2022 and 2023 but fell short in both matchups. 

Although it was an unfavorable outcome, Scott said his team will be back to compete next season. The Cougars will return Hayes, junior Jacolby Donaldson, and brothers Ryan and Ronald Mosley – a freshman and sophomore respectively.

"We have a good core group of guys – so you know, this wasn't our year – we fell short," Scott said. "(Manchester) played a great game, but that team was not better than us."