MANSFIELD — DeJorr Gibson may not be a starter, but Mansfield Senior’s reserve point guard is a closer.
The undersized Gibson, this week’s Richland Source Athlete of the Week, has been instrumental in Mansfield Senior’s run to this week’s Division I regional tournament. Weather permitting, the Tygers (18-7) will play Toledo Bowsher (24-2) at 7 p.m. tonight at the University of Toledo’s Savage Hall.
The winner will play either Cleveland St. Ignatius or Lakewood St. Edward for a regional title and a berth in the Final Four at 7 p.m. Saturday at the University of Akron’s James A. Rhodes Arena. St. Ignatius and St. Edward will meet at the JAR in Akron tonight.
For Gibson, the road to Mansfield Senior ran through Lima. He played at Lima Senior as a freshman, sat out his sophomore season and returned as a junior, only to be removed from the team for disciplinary reasons.
“When I was at Lima Senior, I just felt like it wasn’t good fit for me. I came down here because it was a better fit,” Gibson said before practice Tuesday afternoon. “My mom (Tinzesta McGee) is from Mansfield and she knew a lot of people here. She graduated from Malabar.
“So we moved to Mansfield and we just went from there.”
The loss of All-Ohioan Keon Johnson to graduation created an opening for Gibson. He has filled in admirably, averaging 9.7 points, 3.7 rebounds 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
“We lost a great player in Keon, but DeJorr has been a good replacement,” senior Malon Samuel said. “He might not score like Keon did, but not a lot of people do.
“He knows his role and he knows how to score.”
The Tygers advanced to the district championship game last March and returned almost the entire roster. Adding a new piece to an established team can often lead to chemistry problems.
Not so, Gibson said.
“I feel like I fit in pretty well,” he said. “They lost a good guard and I’ve replaced his spot. I haven’t put up the numbers like he did, but I feel like I’ve been able to help the team.”
In last year’s season opener, Mansfield Senior beat Lima Senior 77-67. Gibson and Senior High’s Mario Davison got into a shoving match and had to be separated.
No bad blood remains, Gibson insisted.
“I’ve been playing with Mario in AAU for a long time. We’re pretty cool,” Gibson said. “It was just a couple of hot-heads who got caught up in the moment.”
Gibson has started 10 games this season, but found his stride coming off the bench. He is averaging a team-high 14 points a game in three tournament games and scored 17 points in Saturday’s 43-29 win over Perrysburg in the district title game.
“I tell everybody DeJorr could start for us real easy,” Senior High coach J.T. Reese said. “What I like about this guy is he embraces his role of coming off the bench.”
The district championship was the first for Mansfield Senior since 2006.
“This is the first Mansfield Senior team to get out of Bowling Green in eight years, so that is a great feeling, Gibson said. “I’m really proud to be a part of that.”
Gibson wore red Nikes with his orange and brown uniform Saturday night. Was that a shout-out to his former team? Lima Senior’s colors are scarlet and gray.
“I know a lot of people probably think that, but it wasn’t like that,” Gibson said. “My uncle, Quincy Simpson, gave them to me.”
The Tygers will have their hands full with Toledo Bowsher. The Rebels, led by Northwest District Player of the Year Nate Allen, average 82.1 points a game and scored more than 100 points in a game eight times this season — including a whopping 124 in a December win over Fairport Harbor Harding. A 6-foot-4 senior, Allen averages 22.2 points a game. Senior Dajuan King averages 20.5 points a game and senior Cameron White averages 16 points a game.
“They like to get up and down the floor, but we like to get up and down, too,” Gibson said. “It’s definitely not going to be 43-29 like it was Saturday.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a running game and a pressing game and a hard-fought game. We are looking forward to it.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
