ONTARIO — Applause, cheers — and then raucous laughter – erupted from the Mansfield Senior locker room after the Tygers defeated Ontario on Saturday night, 44-36.
Laughter?
First-year head coach Marquis Sykes said the jocularity ensued after junior point guard Da’Quan Hilory was awarded the team’s first “Hustle Chain” of the season.
After admitting his squad lifted the idea from the University of Miami football team’s Turnover Chain, Sykes explained the reason for the laughs that followed the final game of the 2017 Richland Source Challenge.
“Da’Quan would be the last person that anybody in this locker room would expect to win the Hustle Chain,” Sykes said with a smile of his own. “Now, he is a tremendous basketball player and scorer. But he is not known for his hustle.”
The stout 5-foot-10 Hilory earned the award for his week’s work, including a win at Mount Vernon on Friday night. He followed up by playing a key role in the win against the previously unbeaten Warriors.
He scored 11 points, led the Tygers with six rebounds and helped harass the Ontario offense all night.
The win was the fifth in a row for Mansfield Senior after a season-opening loss at unbeaten Mansfield St. Peter’s. Ontario fell to 5-1 with the defeat.
STRONG SECOND HALF: Ontario led 15-11 at halftime after holding the Tygers to just two points in the second quarter.
But Senior High stepped up the pressure and stormed back with a 12-5 start to the second half, including put-backs after four offensive rebounds in two trips down the court.
“We simplified our gameplan (at halftime),” Sykes said. “It was as simple as getting defensive stops, getting rebounds and pushing the ball in transition.
“This was definitely a grind-it-out kind of game. It was low-scoring and the refs let us play, so there were a lot of bumps, lots of contact.”
Mansfield Senior led 27-25 going into the fourth quarter and then reeled off the first seven points of the period to take a nine-point advantage. Ontario didn’t get closer than five the rest of the way.
What worked for the Warriors in the first half failed in the second.
“The big emphasis we had tonight was get back on defense in transition, keep dribble penetration out of the lane in the half-court and keep them off the glass. That was the difference in the second half,” Ontario coach Joe Balogh said.
“Offensively, we kind of struggled. Give credit to their pressure on the basketball. But when we reversed the ball or got it into the post, we were pretty efficient. We didn’t do that quite enough throughout the game.”
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Senior guard B.J. Patrick led Mansfield Senior with 13 points. Senior forward Logan Jones had 10 points for Ontario.
Mansfield Senior shot 38 percent from the field (16-42) and added 10-of-16 at the foul line. Ontario connected on 40 percent from the floor (15-37) and 3-of-7 at the line.
The Tygers had a 25-24 edge in rebounding, led by Hilary and junior post Dontivious Burtin, who had five. Sophomore forward Jayden Jacobs led Ontario with seven. Jones had five.
Up next: Mansfield Senior hosts Wooster Friday in a battle for the lead in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Ontario plays at Highland that same evening in a non-league game.
