MANSFIELD — Tim Mergel hasn’t had much time to prepare for Saturday’s opponent in the Richland Source Challenge.
It has been — and will continue to be — a busy week for the Madison coach and his Rams.
Madison (3-2) will play Bellevue (3-1) in the fourth of six games Saturday in the third Richland Source Challenge at Ontario High School’s O-Rena. It will be the third game in five days for the Rams, who opened the rugged stretch with a 76-68 win at Sandusky on Tuesday. Madison will host Lexington on Friday then have less than 24 hours to get ready for the Redmen.
“Bellevue is a very good team and we had a great game with them last year,” Mergel said at Richland Source Challenge media night at Buffalo Wild Wings in Ontario on Monday. “But the truth is we haven’t thought much about Bellevue. We’re worried about Sandusky and once we get through Sandusky, we’ll turn our focus to Lexington.
“We can’t afford to overlook anybody.”
The Rams, who have won three straight after opening with back-to-back losses, will have their hands full against the Redmen. Bellevue opened the year with a resounding 77-60 win over Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division preseason favorite Sandusky.
“We have been playing well,” Bellevue coach Ed Rich said Monday.
Just about every team taking part in the Richland Source Challenge can make that claim. The 12 teams in this year’s event have a combined record of 36-19 going into Thursday night’s action. St. Peter’s (6-0), Ontario (5-0) and Shelby (3-0) are undefeated while Clear Fork (4-1), Mansfield Senior (3-1) and Bellevue (3-1) have just one loss.
Tickets are $10 for the all-day extravaganza.
“There are a lot of good teams and a lot of good matchups,” said first-year Mansfield Senior coach Marquis Sykes, whose Tygers play Ontario in the sixth and final game at 9 p.m. Saturday.
The Tygers have won three straight after a season-opening loss at St. Peter’s. Senior High is at Mount Vernon on Friday before meeting the Warriors in Saturday’s marquee matchup.
Ontario has as many freshmen on the varsity roster as seniors (two apiece).
“We are looking forward to the opportunity of playing Mansfield Senior,” said longtime coach Joe Balogh, who earned his 540th career win Wednesday against River Valley. “It’s exciting for our kids and it’s exciting for area high school basketball fans.”
