MANSFIELD — His team had just won its third in a row with a 56-53 victory against Lexington on Friday night. But Mansfield Senior coach J.T. Reese didn’t want to talk about a winning streak.
“Let’s not look at it that way,” Reese said. “Let’s call it one in a row … again.”
It’s been that kind of different season for the tradition-rich Tygers, now just 6-14 overall, 5-9 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Lexington, losing its fourth straight, fell to 14-7 and 8-5.
The latest one-in-a-row victory wasn’t secured easily. The Tygers, who led most of the way, still had to rally from a 47-42 deficit with 3:51 remaining.
Fittingly, the game-winning triple with 18 seconds left came after two consecutive offensive rebounds by 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Dontavious Burtin, who tossed the second carom to sophomore guard DaQuan Hilory. The 5-11 Hilory calmly nailed a long-range trey to put Mansfield Senior ahead to stay at 54-53.
It was a fitting sequence because the Tygers largely earned the win on the strength of a 27-17 rebounding edge, including 12-4 on the offensive boards. It gave Senior High an 11-3 edge in second-chance points.
“(Rebounding) is a little bit of know-how and a little bit of knowing how to position yourself. But the bottom line is getting gritty,” Reese said.
Eight different Tygers pulled down rebounds, led by seven from Burtin.
Lexington coach Scott Hamilton has seen it before at Pete Henry Gym.
“It’s the Mansfield Senior offense of old,” he said. “They get the best shot they can and then everyone else crashes the boards. They have capable shooters. And when you give that many second opportunities, they are going to knock down shots.
“(Mansfield Senior’s) effort was definitely obvious tonight. They outworked us.”
Junior B.J. Patrick hit a pair of foul shots with 3.9 seconds left to increase Mansfield Senior’s lead to 56-53. After a timeout, Lexington senior Traevin Harrison then drilled a potential game-tying triple of his own, but it came one last pump-fake after the buzzer.
LEARNING SEASON: Mansfield Senior has just one senior in its program in 6-3 forward Dashawn Harris. It’s led to a lot of growing pains for the fourth-winningest program in the state of Ohio.
“It’s very much been a learning process,” Reese said. “If we had lost this game tonight, it would have been a learning experience.
“The kids are starting to listen and believe … because they are seeing positive results from their efforts. That makes a difference.”
Seven different Tygers scored in the victory, led by 22 from Patrick, who connected on 10 of 12 from the foul line and was perfect on two triple attempts. Hilory finished with 11 and Harris added eight.
“Tonight, every player we put into the game contributed to this victory in a positive way,” Reese said.
HARD TO EXPLAIN: Losing four in a row this time of year, with the tournament looming, is not what any coach has in mind. Hamilton said he isn’t sure what is causing his team’s recent struggles.
“I honestly can’t answer that,” he said. “I don’t know. I thought I had these guys figured out … what it would take for us to be consistent. Now I don’t know.”
Harrison led Lexington with 17 points and two assists, shooting seven of nine from the field. Sophomore forward Cade Stover, hounded by multiple Tyger defenders each time the ball went inside, finished with 15 points and led Lexington with six rebounds.
Mansfield Senior shot 41 percent overall (17 of 41), but 58 percent from behind the arc (seven of 12). Lexington shot 53 percent from the floor (20 of 38), but hit just two of nine three-point tries.
The Minutemen committed 11 turnovers, compared to 10 for the Tygers.
UP NEXT: Mansfield Senior travels to Olentangy tonight for a non-league game. Lexington concludes its regular season next Friday when it hosts Clear Fork in an OCC game.
