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March 10, 2007

Former Pentucket coach watches from afar

Bob Albright

You get the feeling that if Bill Manchester could figure out a way to get his three children, including his new baby boy, Robert, in the car this morning he would make the lengthy road trip from his Maine home to Lowell's Tsongas Arena.

"I would love to be there, but with three kids all by myself it might be a little tricky," said the former Pentucket girls basketball coach who has kept close tabs on this year's epic season by his former team which plays for the North title this morning in Lowell.

Manchester, who left Pentucket after one year to take the reins of the Marshwood High School football program in South Berwick Maine, was on hand to see Pentucket play in its first tournament game in nearly two decades in the Sachems' opener against Watertown last week and was more than a little impressed.

"To be honest I was kind of scared to see them play Watertown. I was really nervous driving down," said Manchester, who would have his fears alleviated in a 54-39 Pentucket romp. "It was a great crowd and they are a young team with no playoff experience, but they handled it very well."

Manchester admits that he had more than an inkling that this year's team had the potential to improve on last year's 6-14 mark, but is also quick to point out that this winter's meteoric metamorphosis on the hardwood in West Newbury has caught him, like most everyone else, out of the blue.

"You knew there were some players coming up. (Freshmen) Ashley Viselli and Erin McNamara came to some of our clinics and they stood out. But if you are asking if Bill Manchester could have this team at 22-1, well, I would have to say 'no way'. We would have probably just scraped into the playoffs," he said with a laugh. "John McNamara has done a terrific job with this team."

While Manchester got a glimpse of McNamara and Viselli, as well as fellow freshman Holly Jakobsons in those clinics, the coach also had the foresight to call up a certain 6-foot-2 freshman center up to the big squad early last season. While he could probably not envision the deafening "Daamen-ating" chants that reverberated through the St. John's Prep gym Wednesday night, he knew the foundation was set.

"Kirsten (Daamen) has really come out of her shell and really improved," said Manchester after watching the center in limited minutes against Watertown. "To put up 15 points and 20 rebounds against a team like Swampscott, well, that's just dominating."

Manchester feels a key component to this year's success is how Pentucket's three seniors -- captains Katie Murphy and Stephanie Murray, along with Sara Prescott, have not only guided, but embraced the Sachems' youth movement.

"That's not always the easiest thing to do as seniors, but I'm not surprised because they're just smart, good kids," said Manchester. "They worked hard as juniors to become captains and now they are thriving in those roles."

That tone may have been set by last season's senior class, many of which saw their minutes dwindle with the emergence of then freshmen Andrea Attenasio and Daamen.

"I had great seniors last year and they knew we were going young and that was the direction things were heading," said the coach of his team which really found its stride down the stretch and knocked off Amesbury for the first time in years on senior night.

"They had a great attitude and accomplished a lot, regardless of what the record was. I think beating Amesbury got that attitude going where they finally got to see what they could accomplish on the court if they put the work in."

While Manchester concedes that he would have loved to be riding the green tidal wave of emotion that washed right through the CAL and nearly the entire North bracket this winter, he appears to have more than landed on his feet at his new post. In fact, Manchester guided the Marshwood football team to its first undefeated regular season in 18 years (8-0), as well as its first home playoff victory and all the way to the state finals this fall.

Not bad for a first year coach ... wait, I've heard this story before.

Bob Albright is the sports editor of the Daily News. His e-mail is balbright@ecnnews.com.

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