Someone forgot to tell the Mansfield St. Peter’s Spartans that it was a cold, snow filled winter night, because they were red hot from the field. The Spartans cruised to an 82-53 win over the Crestview Cougars.
The Spartans opened up their Saturday night match up with the Crestview Cougars in Franciscan Activity Center by connecting on four straight three pointers in route to a 28 point first quarter.
“They were playing a zone and you run that risk. Two of our best shooters are Stein and Payne and they made one each and missed some that were more wide open than ever.” said Spartans’ head coach Pat Durham, “(Joseph) Rall had a great game, (David) Hall had a great game, and we were able to over come a little bit of foul difficulty as a result. That is how well we played. We played like that last night too so I am very happy with this entire week.”
The week included a pair of victories on Friday over East Knox and Saturday over the Cougars.
The Spartans connected on seven of their 12 first half three point attempts to break open to a 38-25 lead at intermission. Spartan senior slasher Joseph Rall put together a fine first half by racking up 16 points.
As everything was going right for the Spartans, the Cougars struggled and looked like they were running on fumes. This year’s extreme winter weather has wreaked havoc on the Cougars schedule and has forced them to pile up games at the end of the year due to cancellations.
“We have played 5 games in 8 days and I do not want to make excuses but some of our guys are just getting tired,” noted Cougars’ head coach Bryan Hall.
The Cougars committed 16 turnovers on the night. Spartans racked up 22 offensive rebounds with was level with the Cougars’ count for total rebounds.
Leading 62-44 at the end of the third frame, the Spartans started piling up the offensive boards on their way to an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach and seal the victory.
“That’s all it comes down to we just needed to box out and we would have been in a better situation there at the end,” said Hall.
The Spartans were led by Rall’s 29 point, 10 rebound performance. Junior sharp shooter Richard Shaw put up 17 points and connected on three triples. Sophomore David Hall posted 16 points and 10 rebounds getting all but two points in the second half alone. Junior Michael Berick led the game with 11 rebounds as the Spartans collected 44 rebounds on the night.
They connected on eight treys on 24 attempts. They shot 47% from the field as a team. They improve to 11-8 on the season. Coach Durham is looking forward to the opportunity to hit the reset button on the season and start the tournament with a blank record.
To get there, the Spartans have their work cut out for them. “It will be chalk. The three teams seeded ahead of us all beat us in Plymouth, (Mansfield) Christian, and Buckeye Central. Buckeye beat Plymouth and both beat Christian… you have to show up now matter who you play.”
The Cougars got a big night out of senior Chandler Durbin who had 21 points. Junior Ben Olewiler followed with 19 points. Junior Sawyer Redcliffe pulled down 10 of his teams 22 rebounds. The Cougars connected on 51% of their total field goals.
The loss gives the Cougars a 7-11 record but Hall is still optimistic about his teams tournament chances. “Our sectional is one that anyone can win and I think that if we show up with the energy that I know we can show up with I think we can be pretty successful. If we take care of the basketball and box out, I think we can go pretty far in the tournament.”
The Cougars picked up the Junior Varsity win 43-37. Sophomore Carson Chronister led all scorers with 17 points.
