MANSFIELD – On a night St. Peter’s past stars returned to the court for an alumni game, the Mansfield Senior Lady Tygers demonstrated their present (and future) are bright.
Five Mansfield Senior players scored eight or more points in a 47-35 non-league win against the current version of the Lady Spartans.
Senior guard Symphony Cook (11 points) and freshman guard Erica Johnson (10) led the way for the Lady Tygers, now 7-2 overall and still 3-1 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
St. Peter’s, which got 18 points from senior guard Tiza Jones, fell to 4-4 overall while remaining 1-1 in the Mid-Buckeye Conference.
Senior High coach Todd Krill, who recorded his 101st win as the Lady Tygers head coach, starts four underclassmen. He knows there is a learning curve and he and his staff must remain patient.
“There are some times you have to bite your tongue really hard,” he said. “When you are supposed to be running an offense and you decide to go 1-on-1, that really doesn’t help our cause.”
The crucial period Krill spoke of came in a five-minute stretch of the third quarter when St. Peter’s outscored the Lady Tygers, 12-3, to cut a 12-point halftime deficit down to three with still 2:33 left in the period.
Jones scored 10 of her points during the period. Mansfield Senior hit just one of 10 shots from the field and one of four from the line during the Lady Spartans’ rally.
St. Peter’s coach Shani Rush said there was nothing magical about the stretch. “We started making our shots and rebounding … that was the difference,” Rush said.
After Krill called a timeout, the Lady Tygers scored two quick baskets to extend the lead to 34-27 entering the fourth quarter. St. Peter’s never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Lady Spartans needed the second-half rally after Mansfield Senior went on a 16-2 run during the second quarter, including the game’s only triple by Johnson that built the Lady Tigers advantage to 26-10 with 1:52 left in the half.
At 5-10 and quick, Johnson poses matchup problems for opposing guards. “She can take the ball to the glass and finish. She has some good games and some not-so-good games,” Krill said. “She has a lot of pressure on her when she is running the point and is learning from experience. You can’t get on her every time.
“We also have some defensive breakdowns tonight we have not had this season. The holidays do strange things to basketball teams,” Krill said.
The Lady Tygers balanced attack got nine points from senior guard Naya Penders, nine from sophomore wing Rajaa Anderson and eight from junior wing Jeryn Reese. Mansfield Senior shot 32 percent from the field (20 of 62) and 40 percent from the foul line (6 of 15). The Lady Tygers had a 50-36 edge in rebounding and committed 18 turnovers.
Freshman Emily Yeager added eight points for the Spartans. St. Peter’s shot just 22 percent from the field (12 of 54) and 69 percent at the line (11 of 16), committing 15 turnovers.
While she enjoyed watching the Lady Spartans alumni take the court, the reason for the game is troublesome for Rush. Her program doesn’t have enough numbers for a JV team and six of her varsity players are freshmen. Making matters worse is two of those freshmen are injured, leaving Rush with just nine healthy players.
“We can’t even go 5-on-5 in practice very often unless a coach jumps in to play,” Rush said. “A JV team allows freshmen to build some confidence. Ours have been throw right into the varsity level.”
Still, watching the stars who won 12 regional titles and one state title from 1977 to 2012, resonated with her current players. Former All-Ohio center Gretchen Polinski knocked in the game winner on an offensive rebound with just a few seconds left, handing her team a 28-27 victory.
“We talk about the tradition of this program all the time. The alumni came in and practiced with us this week, which was helpful. The girls know they are part of one of the programs with the most wins in the state.”
Mansfield Senior has little time to celebrate. The Lady Tygers travel to Orrville this afternoon for an OCC game. “We had hoped we could play well and get some other people into the game and save our legs,” Krill said. “But we played sloppy at times and didn’t really get a chance to do that.”
The Lady Spartans are off until Jan. 4 when St. Peter’s hosts East Knox in a MBC league game.
