SHELBY — The one-sided game was decided long before the final buzzer, but Clear Fork and Mansfield Christian coaches both came away with positives Saturday afternoon.
The Colts (4-3) pressured the Flames (2-3) into 32 turnovers as they rolled to a 65-22 win in the second game of the Richland Source Challenge at Shelby High School.
Clear Fork coach Chuck Schmitt, whose team led 38-11 at halftime, said he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“We were able to execute and we were happy with that,” he said. “We put in a new set this week with the triple post — three post players and two on the perimeter — and it was nice to see that materialize.”
Mansfield Christian coach JR Wilson said he was pleased with his team’s effort.
“The girls worked really hard. They didn’t give up. That’s a good feeling. We may not have the most talented team, but I feel like our girls work hard,” Wilson said.
FAST START: Clear Fork used an overwhelming press and a considerable size advantage to dominate the game from the start, building a 19-8 lead after one quarter. MCS was forced into 19 turnovers in just the first half and the Flames got off just 17 shots in the game’s first 16 minutes.
“Our man-to-man (press) did a good job today. We had some good work with that in the first half. In the second, we went to a 2-2-1 half-court trap, what we call a 2-3,” said Schmitt, whose substitutes played the majority of minutes.
“That’s always important,” he said. “The non-starters work hard in practice and you want to get them into games. We mix them up a little bit, but it was nice that our second group played a good bit today.”
The Colts’ fast start took a toll on the Flames.
“Anytime you get down early, it takes the air out of the ball,” Wilson said. “We know Clear Fork is a good team and we knew they would be a challenge. We had a hard time handling their pressure today.”
While the Colts had a size advantage, Wilson said his team needed a better effort inside.
“Our girls were not boxing out very well. They definitely had a size advantage, but I still expect more from our girls. We need to be able to box out,” Wilson said.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Clear Fork shot 45 percent from the field (27-60) and added 9 of 15 at the line. Mansfield Christian shot 23 percent from the floor (7-31) and was just 2 of 9 at the line.
Senior post Tabi Hamilton led the Colts with 14 points while sophomore Brooke Robinson had 11 and senior Whitney Snavely added seven.
Senior Mallory Hord led MCS with six points. Junior Ashley Maiyer added five.
Clear Fork finished with a 31-26 edge in rebounding. The Colts committed just seven turnovers.
UP NEXT: Clear Fork is at Marion Pleasant on Tuesday in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game. Mansfield Christian is at home Thursday against Lucas in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game.
