Tygers fall to Clear Fork in delayed season opener

MANSFIELD — It wasn’t the outcome JeVar Hudgens hoped for, but the Mansfield Senior coach didn’t have to search hard to find the silver lining.

“At least the girls are getting to play basketball,” Hudgens said after the Tygers opened their season — finally — with a 43-38 loss to Clear Fork on Monday at Pete Henry Gym.

Senior High (0-1) was scheduled to start its season during the first week of December, but games were put on hold as Richland County experienced a spike in coronavirus cases earlier this month.

The county was downgraded last week from purple to red in the color-coded COVID-19 rating system, allowing the Tygers to resume practices.

“We returned to practice on Dec. 21 and that was our first practice since Dec. 3,” Hudgens said. “We went almost three weeks without practice and then we came back Christmas week. We practiced four days, took Christmas off, came back Saturday and played (Monday).

“We’re nowhere near where we need to be in terms of conditioning, but the best thing is we’re getting to play.”

Clear Fork, meanwhile, was playing its ninth game of the season. The Colts (4-5) opened their season in late November and were originally scheduled to play the Tygers on Dec. 5.

“It’s hard to prepare for a game like this because they haven’t played yet,” Clear Fork assistant coach Clint Sellers said. “They had a lot of energy, which we expected because it was their first game.

“They withstood our pressure very well for that being their first game. I was impressed with their kids and their coach had them prepared.”

The Colts scored the first seven points of the game and led 9-2 after Pacey Chrastina’s offensive rebound and putback with 5:07 to play in the first quarter. But Senior High responded with a 9-0 run and took an 11-9 lead on Juleah Windham’s layup with 3:23 remaining in the opening period. Clear Fork led 18-16 after a fast-paced first quarter and 24-21 at the half.

Mansfield Senior trailed 29-24 early in the third before closing the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 32-31 advantage to the fourth. The game was tied 34-34 when Clear Fork’s Lyvia Davis connected on a 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining. The Colts wouldn’t trail again.

“Lyvia Davis hit a big three and made a couple of fouls shots down the stretch and we snuck out of here with the win,” Sellers said. “We’ll take it, that’s for sure.”

Pacey Chrastina led Clear Fork with 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Bekah Conrad, Clear Fork’s 6-foot-3 junior center, added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Windham led the Tygers with 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. Julia Rizzo added seven points.

The Tygers did themselves no favors at the free throw line, connecting on just 9 of 24 attempts.

“It was a rough one, but you expect that with the first game,” Hudgens said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well from the free throw line, but that comes with rhythm. We need to get into the rhythm of playing.

“We have a lot of young girls who have to get used to playing varsity basketball. Once that happens, I think we’ll be alright.”