MANSFIELD – On a night when the Tygers once again wore red and white, Mansfield Senior played defense like the days of old on Friday night.
Wearing the school colors used before Senior merged with Malabar High School and become brown and orange, the Tygers pressured and harassed Lexington all over the court in a 51-33 boys Ohio Cardinal Conference basketball game.
“We put on the red and white one time each year,” Mansfield coach J.T. Reese said. “We thought this would be a good crowd tonight and it was.”
The Tygers (12-1, 10-1) had the Minutemen blue on offense throughout the game, especially in the first half. Lexington connected on just three of 18 FG tries in the first 16 minutes as Mansfield built leads of 10-4 after one quarter and 23-9 at halftime.
It was a far different game than the two played at Lexington on Dec. 27 when Lexington handed Senior its only loss of the season thus far, 60-49. The key difference was Lexington (8-8, 4-6) connected on 23 of 30 foul shots on their home court and only eight of 12 inside the Pete Henry Gym.
“We made a conscious effort during practice this week not to commit fouls,” Reese said. “It paid off tonight.”
The concentration on not fouling didn’t slow the Tygers press and man-to-man halfcourt defense for a second.
“That’s our mantra,” Reese said. “We want to guard you all over the court. We want to make you work to get the ball up the court and then we want to keep the pressure up in the halfcourt,” Reese said.
Any thoughts Lexington entertained of a second-half rally quickly faded when Senior started the third quarter with a 9-2 run that increased the Tygers lead to 32-11. Mansfield’s Naradian James, who connected on a triple at the buzzer at the end of the first half, capped the third-quarter flurry with a rebound and a put-back dunk.
Lexington coach Scott Hamilton said he and his team knew what was coming.
“Their defensive pressure really came out tonight,” Hamilton said. “It extended all the way to halfcourt.
“I credit their defense in keeping us out of our offense. I think we only ran 2 or 3 offensive plays all night. (But) I don’t think we were as aggressive tonight in trying to get the ball into the paint,” Hamilton said.
Nine different Tygers scored in the game, led by senior guard Jameel Butts with 11. Senior post Donovyn Benson added nine and James finished with seven.
Just five Lexington players scored, led by senior guard Matt Barkett with 16. Senior forward Zach Temple was next with five.
Mansfield Senior shot 49 percent from the field (21-43), including six of 12 triples. The Tygers added three of five from the line. Lexington shot 30 percent from the field (11 of 36), just three of 13 from behind the 3-point line.
Mansfield had a 28-22 rebounding edge, led by five from Chek Washington. Barkett have five for Lexington. The Tygers had 11 assists and 12 turnovers. Lexington had four assists and 14 turnovers.
Mansfield Senior is back in action Tuesday at home against Massillon Perry. Lexington is at Fredericktown tonight.
Lexington won the JV game, 47-34. Sophomore Kaleb Smith led Lex with 14 points. Freshman A.J/. Nickoli added 12. Marion Young led Mansfield with 20.
