MANSFIELD — If Naradain James looked like a different player during last week’s regional tournament, it’s not without reason.
Mansfield Senior’s athletic 6-foot-5 junior swingman lopped off his locks leading up to Thursday’s regional semifinal win over Toledo Bowsher.
The new do didn’t have an adverse effect on his play. James, the Richland Source Athlete of the Week, came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points in Senior High’s 66-50 win over the state-ranked Rebels on Thursday. He was 9-for-14 from the floor, swiped five rebounds and blocked two shots for good measure.
So what was with the new look?
“I just wanted to mix it up a little bit,” said James, who sheared off his mini dreadlocks in favor of a close-cropped style.
His remarkable offensive performance in the regional semifinal came on the heels of perhaps his best defensive effort of the season in the district championship game. James grabbed six rebounds, blocked four shots and altered several other in Senior High’s 43-29 win over Perrysburg.
Some players might be reluctant to make such a big change in appearance during a tournament run. Athletes, after all, are among the most superstitious creatures on the planet.
Not James.
“I wore different shoes (for the regional semifinal), and everything,” he said. “I’m not superstitious.”
Like the rest of his teammates, James found the going much more difficult in the regional championship game. He scored six points on 3-for-8 shooting and grabbed two rebounds in Senior High’s 74-47 loss to nationally-ranked Lakewood St. Edward on Saturday at the University of Akron’s James A. Rhodes Arena.
Still, James averaged a team-high 12.5 points in two regional tournament games on 12-for-22 shooting (55 percent). In five postseason games, James averaged 7.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots per game as Senior High advanced to the regional title game for the first time since 2005.
“I’ll tell you, Naradain is the best overall player we have skill-wise,” Mansfield Senior coach J.T. Reese said after the Tygers disposed of Toledo Bowsher at Lima Senior High School on Thursday. “He is slight of build, but we will get that together.
“The reason I didn’t start him is because I wanted to see who he could actually guard. We found out, so we put him out there and he did a wonderful job for us.”
Coming off the bench in the regional tournament was a blessing, James said.
“It helped with the jitters,” he admitted. “Coming out for the start I’m usually nervous.”
While he may not have been on the floor for the start of either regional game, James was on the court when the game mattered most. He had a pair of dunks in the fourth quarter of the semifinal victory as Bowsher cut what had been a 21-point halftime advantage for Senior High to 57-49 with almost two minutes remaining.
“It was a little anxious because we got away from what we were doing,” James said. “We had to get back to that.
“It felt good (to get a couple of dunks in crunch time). I wanted to get one earlier in the game, but I missed out on it.”
As good as he and the Tygers were offensively, James was even more pleased with the defensive effort against the Rebels.
“We had game-planned for them and we executed it,” he said. “We kept them out of the middle, put a hand up, boxed out and rebounded.”
James started 17 of Mansfield Senior’s 27 games this season and averaged eight points a game. He shot 43 percent from the field (66-for-153), 39 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (14-for-38) and 79 percent from the free throw line (41-for-52). He was also one of Senior High’s most reliable rebounders, grabbing 4.5 boards a night. His 33 blocked shots were a team-high.
Senior High will lose all but two regulars from this year’s team. James and Asante’ Wilder were the only underclassmen to get regular playing time. They will be relied upon even more heavily next year.
James was just happy to help return Mansfield Senior to prominence this season. The Tygers hadn’t reached the Sweet 16 in eight years after winning six district championships and two regional crowns from 1999 to 2006.
“It was definitely always a goal,” James said. “We set our goals and worked hard for them.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“I wore different shoes (for the regional semifinal), and everything,” James said. “I’m not superstitious.”
