Manual H.S. caps successful regular season with home win on Senior Night

 

In the fall of 2012, Manual High School of Indianapolis revived its football team after the Indianapolis Public Schools system, citing a lack of participation and, therefore, interest, suspended the program following a winless 2009 season in which the roster was so thin that every player had to play both offense and defense.

Manual re-emerged into football with an abbreviated schedule that 2012 season; it had only three official varsity games on the slate. When I swung by the school's football field to photograph the third and final game, a homecoming contest, both teams — Manual and Arlington — were winless for the year. Manual pulled out a win that night, 24-18, bringing some joy to a school that needed any kind of good news to boost morale.

I'm not sure whom to credit, but the school's academics and athletics have enjoyed a gradual recovery since then, and I took interest when I saw how well the school's 2015-16 boys basketball team was doing last season. It finished with a win-loss record of 15-9, and made it into the second round of the annual Class 3 post-season tournament. I noticed the team was led by a high-scoring junior with one of the coolest first names I'd ever heard of -- Courvoisier McCauley (left) -- and made a mental note to see if I could swing by one of the team's games the following year.

I became even more motivated a few weeks ago when I read a feature on him by prep basketball writer Kyle Neddenriep in The Indianapolis Star. You really should read the story; it's a wonderful profile ... and it explains the origin of McCauley's distinctive first name. The Star article also mentions that McCauley goes by the nickname "Voss."

This week, I made it to Manual and photographed the school's win Tuesday over Liberty Christian of Anderson, 71-61 on Senior Night. It was the last regular-season home game for Manual in 2016-17 (the school hosted a multi-team tournament the next weekend. Manual won the tournament, beating Indiana Elite Academy on Saturday morning, advancing to the afternoon final in which it defeated Bowman Academy). The win over Liberty Christian raised Manual's season record to 16-6.

In the aforementioned IndyStar story about McCauley, Manual boys basketball coach Donnie Bowling (right) admitted that he has trouble spelling his star player's first name. And after I re-read that story today to refresh my memory, I wondered whether Bowling is in charge of submitting the team roster to whomever prints the school's home-game programs, because "Courvoisier" was misspelled in the program I picked up Tuesday.

McCauley has had another fantastic season; according to the most recent statistics issued by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, his 27.6 points per game average is tied for second best in the state, only 0.4 of a point behind the leader, Butler University commit Cooper Neese of Cloverdale. The 26 points McCauley dropped in the win over Liberty Christian, a team that beat Manual the previous season, shouldn't affect his average much.

The interesting thing about the Redskins, though, is that three other players — T.J. Waldon (11.9), Cameron Sembly (11.7) and Jalen Johnson (10.7)  — average in double figures. Waldon and Sembly, like McCauley, are seniors. Three other seniors — Jaron Glenn (8.2), Amari Evans (6.8) and Nathan Meriwether (6.5) — are the next highest scorers on the team.

The school held its senior recognition before Tuesday's game, so I finally got a chance to put faces to not only McCauley's name, but the team's other formidable seniors. Each is a spirited contributor to the Redskins' offense and defense. I think I most enjoyed observing Glenn, a brawny 6-foot-7 center whom you can often find smiling when he's not focusing on business on the court while the clock is ticking. That's Glenn gritting it out along the baseline in the photo leading off the post.

Photo geek stuff: This shoot proved to be both a refresher and an enlightenment one for me. It had been more than four years since I shot a basketball game. Back then, in December 2012, my primary camera was a Canon 7D. While the 7D is excellent for sports and other fast-moving activities because of its exceptional burst rate (8 frames per second), its ISO sensitivity is not as good as my newer Canon 6D (more on this in a bit). But the 6D's maximum burst rate is almost half (4.5 fps) that of the 7D. So I had a dilemma -- which was more important, maximum images or less noise? I brought both cameras, and started by equipping the 7D with my EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens, and the 6D with my EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens, thinking I'd use the 7D and its faster burst as the primary game camera and lens. As the game unfolded, I quickly remembered that the 7D's buffer (i.e., when the shutter momentarily stops firing to allow the memory-card writing process to catch up) was kicking in far sooner than I wanted. I was missing key shots at the ends of plays. So I put the 70-200 lens on the 6D and decided to use that combo for the primary shots. It gave me fewer shots per play, but it also kept me in the plays much longer. Luckily, I stuck with that the remainder of the game. It wasn't until I got home and began processing the images that I realized that my decision to go almost exclusively with the 6D proved very wise for yet another reason -- the ISO sensitivity. I had set both cameras at ISO 2000 because Manual High School's lighting conditions dictated I push it that high if I wanted to shoot at shutter speeds of 1/320 or higher. At that ISO, all of my 7D shots required filtering through a noise-reduction software program (I use Noiseware), but my 6D shots did not. Therefore, almost all of the photos in this post (the band shots being the exception) were taken with the 6D. I used the 7D for the Senior Night ceremony, but I didn't use any of those in this post. You can find them in the full gallery, however (see link below).

As usual, to view a larger, sharper version of an image, click on the image. This is particularly crucial if you access the blog and post from a mobile device. To view a gallery of all my images from the shoot, visit my site at SmugMug.com.

Courvoisier McCauley begins a drive (above) against Lions' defender Ronny Williams (4) as teammate Jalen Johnson slides toward the basket. When Lions junior Isaiah Brees (3) approaches to his left (below), McCauley dished a pass to Johnson, who went up for a bank shot near the basket. 

Above: Tuesday's game was recorded by WHMB-TV (local Channel 40) and broadcast on three hours' delay.

Above: 6-7 junior Jalen Johnson elevates for this bank shot near the basket. 

Above: Senior Nathan Meriwether apparently found something amiss in the offensive setup, gesturing to rectify the situation.

Senior guard Cameron Sembly, in the right baseline corner of the offense, looks for a pass outlet (above). Later in the game, from the same corner, he gets off a jump shot (below). 

Above: Jaron Glenn uses his size advantage to get close enough to the basket to get off this field goal for two points.   

Above: The Redskins employed a full-court press frequently during the game, and the strategy on this Liberty Christian possession had the Lions' Dallas Burko (25) surrounded at mid-court by half of Manual's seniors (from left), Evans, Glenn and McCauley. 

Manual's players periodically display elements of dazzle in their offense, like this no-look pass (above) by McCauley to Evans in the first half. Later, on a breakaway inbound play, Sembly streaked toward basket from the right side and in mid-stride floated an under-handed lob to an also-streaking Evans on the left side. Evans jumped near the basket as he saw the pass come his way, caught it and stuck it. 

Above: On one of his more aggressive drives to the basket, McCauley collided with the Lions' Burko, and both landed on the floor. McCauley was called for a charging foul. 

Above: It was difficult to find a moment when all-business coach Donnie Bowling broke a smile, but I finally got one here. 

Above and next two below: A breaking Amari Evans caught a long, inbound pass from a teammate at the opposite end of the court and strode to the basket for this easy put down.

Above: The Lions called time out after the Evans score (two photos above), and as Manual's pep band performed during the break, one spectator danced to the music. 

Above: Jaron Glenn fights through another double team to get to the basket and score.

Above and next three below: Senior T.J. Waldon wiggles through a defensive gantlet on a drive for this field goal in the second half. 

Above: Meriwether (in the corner) and McCauley (from near the top of the key) fire open shots, but neither hit the mark.

Above: McCauley slithers through a triple team to get off a pass in the lane.  

 Above: Sembly lifts a short shot from the baseline that missed. 

Liberty Christian's Ronny Williams snagged a rebound (above) in front of Manual's Evans. Later in the game, with only 21 seconds remaining, Williams suffered a right leg injury of some kind under the Redskins' basket. As teammate Peyton Quinn (5) observes, Williams is helped off the court (below) by fellow senior Trajan Dixon (44) and his coach, Jason Chappell.  

Above: Waldon releases a pass after recognizing an approaching defender just as he entered the lane on a drive late in the game.

A perspective shot (above) of the Manual High School gym during pregame warmups. While I was perched on the top row of the grandstands behind the basket, I turned to my right and got a shot of the Manual cheerleaders going through a routine (below).

Above and next two below: Members of the Manual High School pep band livened things up during halftime and timeout breaks.

Game Day atmosphere at St. Joe's

St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer has a pretty smart marching band, and by "smart," I mean that it's accomplished -- and fun. The student performers enjoy what they do as they ply their very good skills. It's why shots of the band comprise the majority of today's post, devoted to the school's football Game Day atmosphere.

The previous post here was dedicated to game action at the Sept. 7 season opening game at St. Joseph's College between the host Pumas and Valparaiso University, a game won by St. Joe's 34-31. Today's post is devoted primarily to the people who pumped atmosphere into the stadium environment -- the marching band, the cheerleaders, the fans and tailgaters. 

St. Joe's cheerleaders do a nice job of keeping home crowd energized as well, and it helps that the band gives the cheer promoters a healthy diet of peppy tunes and hypnotizing rhythms -- sometimes at a fever, thumping pitch ... which is why I led this post with a close up of the dummers' sticks preparing to strike another beat.

I loosely divided the pictures in this post by the band, the cheerleaders, team introductions, the fans and tailgating. There are one or two bonus shots tossed in for good measure.

The next post will feature my shots taken during a walk-around of the St. Joseph's campus prior to the game. 

Above and next eight below: The rhythm section of the marching band, which anchors the north end zone of Alumni Football Field. I'm not sure why the one percussionist put the bandana or neck scarf up around his face; it was very hot and humid. It didn't last there very long. 

Above: I don't know for sure, but I believe this youngster is related to Robb Thiel, director of college bands at St. Joseph's.

 

Above: Apparently it's tradition for students who welcome the St. Joe's football team onto the field to turn their backs on the visiting squad as it enters the stadium. That's what's going on here.
 

Above and next two below: The welcoming crew, including a masked Puma, at the south end of the stadium.

Above and next two below: Running back Braxton Shelton (7) leads the Pumas in a pep chant, rocking to-and-fro swagger at the south end zone before turning toward the field and yelling out a charge. 

Above and below: A look a two hair styles along the Pumas' sideline. 

Above and below: The only high-dynamic range (HDR) images in this post are of the home team's side of the stadium stands. I shot this hand-held with a Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di PZD VC lens attached to my Canon 30D. HDR is a melding in post-processing of two or more images taken of the same scene but at different exposures. I used three exposures for each of these, taken at 0 (normal), -3/4 and +3/4. 
 

Above and next three below: Shots of the St. Joseph's crowd in the stadium. 

Above and below: The Crusaders had a nice support base on their side of the field as well. Valparaiso is about an hour's drive from Rensselaer. 

Above: I included this picture to convey a curiosity (at least to me). St. Joseph's school colors are cardinal and purple, a combination I can't say I've ever seen or heard of before. But between the football team's jerseys and the marching band's attire in the background, this is how it plays out .

Above and the remainder below: The modest tailgating pack congregated in a meadow east of the stadium. St. Joseph's charges $5 to park on their grounds ... and $20 to set up in the tailgate area.