MANSFIELD — Robert Jones filled out the stat sheet — and added a clip to his personal highlight reel — Saturday afternoon at Pete Henry Gym.
Mansfield Senior’s 6-foot-7 senior forward scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, handed out five assists and blocked four shots as the Tygers improved to 2-0 with a 66-53 win over highly regarded Toledo Scott.
But what Senior High fans were buzzing about after the game was Jones’ impossible tip dunk in the third quarter. The high-flying Jones was bumped by a Scott defender as he picked the ball out of mid-air at the top of his leap. The contact forced him away from the basket, but Jones rifled the ball through the rim from about three feet away without ever getting his hand on the rim (think L.A. Clippers sky-walking power forward Blake Griffin over Timofey Movgov in 2010), then fell to the floor. As he scrambled to his feet, a look of disbelief crept across his face.
“That probably ranks as the second best dunk I’ve had,” Jones said.
After scoring just two points and misfiring on all four of his field goal attempts in 17 minutes of action in Mansfield Senior’s season-opening 86-45 win, Jones connected on 4 of 8 shots in a team-high 28 minutes of floor time.
“It’s pretty self explanatory. When he plays, his numbers go up,” Senior High coach J.T. Reese said. “What I wanted to do tonight was give him some extended time so he could catch his rhythm and he asked for that.”
The Tygers (2-0) picked up Saturday afternoon where they left off Friday night. Senior High raced out to a 13-3 advantage and led 13-8 after the first quarter.
“We didn’t finish in the first quarter. We blew a bunch of layups,” Scott coach Chris Dames said. “I thought we got what we wanted.
“They came out and his some 3s early, but we stayed in the game.”
Chek Washington, Jameel Butts and Jalen Reese all connected on 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Tygers, who were 10 for 19 from beyond the arc against Madison, connected on 8 of 18 triple tries against the Bulldogs (1-2).
Scott cut Mansfield Senior’s advantage to 17-14 midway through the second quarter on a Damien Spearman putback, but the Tygers began to methodically pull away after that. Three-pointers by Naradain James and Washington pushed Senior High’s lead to 23-14 and by the time Jones assisted on Malon Samuel’s triple with 1:35 to play in the first half, the Tygers led 30-19.
Point guard Asante’ Wilder connected on a 3-pointer off a Jones assist early in the third quarter and the Bulldogs never seriously threatened again. Mansfield Senior led 43-30 after the third and the lead ballooned to as many as 19 points on several occasions in the fourth quarter.
For a second straight night, the Tygers spread the wealth. A night after handing out 18 assists as a team, Senior High had 16 assists on 24 field goals.
“That is another glaring number in the stat column,” Reese said. “We hit a couple of jump shots tonight, too, which helps us.
“Even last year we preached the same thing. We just had a guy (Keon Johnson) who was a killer so it was easy to stand around and watch. This year is a little different. We preach the same thing this year as last year, it’s just now we’re doing it.”
Mansfield Senior has limited its two opponents to a combined 30 for 78 shooting (38 percent) and scored 54 points off 41 turnovers.
“I’m pleased with where we are (defensively),” Reese said. “I’ll be more pleased when we get a little bit more practice time and a little bit more team continuity.”
James matched Jones with 13 points, while Reese added 10 for the Tygers. Wilder had seven points and five assists.
Chris Darrington scored a game-high 21 points for Scott. Chris Harris added 15.
Mansfield Senior’s freshman improved to 2-0 to start the triple-header, topping Scott 41-33. Deshawn Harris led the way with 10 points.
Mansfield Senior’s junior varsity team fell 54-51. Mario Young led the way with 20 points, while Jenerio Minard added 10.
Mansfield Senior returns to Ohio Cardinal Conference action Friday, hosting Ashland.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
