MANSFIELD, Ohio — The Flames turned up the heat Monday at The Furnace.
Mansfield Christian forced 26 turnovers and sailed to a 76-32 win over Crestline in Mid-Buckeye Conference action.
MCS (3-4) scored 34 points off Crestline miscues.
“It’s been a problem for us all season. We’re averaging about 24 turnovers a game,” said first-year Crestline coach Rob Lisle, a 1997 Crestline graduate and a member of the last Bulldogs team to finish with a winning record. “We have a young team. We’re trying to get there, but it’s tough.”
Crestline (0-10) trailed 17-12 after the first quarter before the Flames caught fire in the second. MCS outscored the Bulldogs 18-5 in the period and was never threatened again.
“Early on I didn’t think we had a lot of energy,” Mansfield Christian coach John Kurtz said. “As the game went on, we thought we could wear them down a little bit. Then we started turning them over.
“In the first half we turned them over a few times, but didn’t really transition very well. In the second half we turned them over for buckets. I thought we did a better job.”
Open the Flood Gates: Leading 35-17 at the half, Mansfield Christian poured it on the the second half. The Flames outscored the Bulldogs 41-15 in the third and fourth quarters.
Brandon Mount led the Flames with 21 points. Jared McPeek had 14 points and five assists while Alan Harris had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Davon Triplett led Crestline with 13 points and five rebounds. Tyler Sipes and Kevin Winkler each had five points.
Wounded: Mansfield Christian played without Kendall Cross, who injured an ankle in the Flames loss to Colonel Crawford on Dec. 21. Cross was still in a walking boot Monday.
“We’re not as deep and we’re not as big without Kendall,” Kurtz said. “We have to play a little differently, but we’re hoping the kids who are getting to play now are getting more experienced. When Kendall comes back we’ll be that much deeper.
“We look pretty small out there without him.”
The Flames are also without Stevie Brown, who suffered a knee injury during soccer season. Brown was to be Mansfield Christian’s primary ball handler.
“That was a huge loss,” Kurtz said. “We’re still now where we want to be with out guard play but we are seeing progress.
“We thought it would be about the midpoint of the season before we learned how to play without Stevie.”
Growing Pains: Crestline started a freshman, three sophomores and a senior Monday night.
“We’re making some progress, but it’s baby steps,” Lisle said. “We don’t have the luxury of having five or six seniors. We have two seniors and one junior who plays varsity.
We have taken some lumps, but ther kids are working.”
