It’s no secret that the quicker a team can jell together and form an identity, the better off it will be later in the season — especially a team like Manchester Valley that is expected to be in tight battles all season long in its county title defense.
A big part of forming that identity is trust and Chris Wunder showed he already trusts his team and players in critical moments in close games.
Now in his third varsity season, Colton Enderle rewarded his coach for his trust against Hereford on Monday night, scoring 23 points and hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 51 seconds left to give Manchester Valley the 48-44 win.
“Coach drew it up, I got the screens and the shot was open,” Enderle said with a smile. “I took the shot and I hit it.”
With Enderle leading the way, Wunder never flinched, even when it appeared his team was down and out. After the Bulls opened the game with a 5-0 run, he sat and watch as Enderle scored or assisted on 10 of the Mavericks 11 first-quarter points, grabbing the lead in a moment’s notice.
“I’m trying to be a more all-around player this year,” Enderle said. “The coaches have asked me to score in the past, but now it’s time for me to step up in different ways for us.”
The rest of the Mavericks followed Enderle’s lead as Owen Caine took advantage of the extra attention being placed on No. 2 and hit a couple of open shots. Mason Sigai played his role defensively, exciting the Mavericks’ student section after a emphatic block of a Hereford layup attempt.
“I love our fight as a team,” Wunder said. “When we got a lead and then they fought back, we stayed strong and battled.”
The Bulls stuck around in the second half, going on a 6-0 third quarter run before eventually taking the lead late in the quarter behind consecutive 3-pointers from Joe Daw and Kries Mete. Wunder didn’t panic and call a timeout, instead he stood seemingly unfazed as he put his trust in his team and watched them respond.
“I have confidence in them,” Wunder said. “I try to let them play through things and give them the opportunity to see if they can play through it.”
Enderle responded, hitting a layup over three Bulls defenders to tie the game in the final seconds of the quarter.
“He’s a three-year varsity player and that’s what we expect from him,” Wunder said. “He’s knows what it takes and he puts in the effort. I knew he could handle it.”
Finding themselves locked in a tight back-and-forth battle in the fourth, Wunder’s trust in his team was once again on display.
Whether it was him and his staff constantly putting the ball in Enderle’s hands or deploying guard Trevor Hottenstein to defend Tanner Diehl as he was starting to rack up points, the Mavericks played their best basketball down the stretch with Enderle’s go-ahead basket serving the perfect exclamation point as the group was all smiles walking away with the hard fought victory and for Wunder — a very confident and optimistic outlook on what this year’s Mavericks can become.
“Our mistakes tonight were more mental than anything,” Wunder said. “Once we clean those up, believe in each other and trust each other, the only thing that stops us, is us.”
Manchester Valley 48, Hereford 44
MV- Colton Enderle (24), Owen Caine (11), Michael Hoy (6), Trevor Hottenstien (5), Colby Howdyshell (2)
H- Tanner Diehl (12), Joe Daw (9), Kreis Mete (8), Daniel Metes (7), Jude Craig (4), Konrad Yoeham (3), Sam Nicholson (1)
Have a news tip? Contact Timothy Dashiell at tdashiell@baltsun.com, and x.com/dashielltimothy.