BUCYRUS — It’s not quite March, but Mansfield Senior has already brought Madness to the boys high school basketball tournament trail.
Senior High’s Maurice Ware was the culprit in the biggest shocker of the postseason.
The senior swingman hit a shot from the lower left block with .8 seconds remaining to lift Mansfield Senior to a stunning, 54-52 upset of second-seeded Shelby in the Division II sectional championship game Friday night at Bucyrus High School.
“These are the moments, what we’re going through right now, our players will tell their kids and their families about in the future,” coach Marquis Sykes said. “We are still the Tygers and we’re still a relevant program in the area.”
Eighth-seeded Mansfield Senior stalked the high-powered Whippets for most of the night before striking the fatal blow in a spectacular finish.
Shelby (19-4) led 14-10 after the first quarter and 33-28 at halftime. Senior High lurked to within 44-41 heading to the final period, then moved on top and eventually emerged after a see-saw fourth period.
Shelby’s Issaiah Ramsey tied the seat-squirming affair at 52 apiece with a bucket in the lane at the 55-second mark.
At that point, Sykes directed Ware to hold the ball when he crossed the timeline.
“When it got to the 35-second mark, I asked him if he wanted us to call a timeout,” Sykes said. “Maurice said he wanted to keep it and take the last shot, he wanted to get the final shot.
“I’ve always thought that as a player, too. I wanted the coach to let me go ahead and make a play. He was able to get to his sweet spot and make the shot.”
Ware stood near the midcourt circle before beginning his move toward the lane in the final five seconds. He took a couple of dribbles before zipping a pass to Myles Bradley along the left baseline. Bradley immediately fed the ball back to Ware who angled up and banked home the game-winner.
Shelby called a pair of timeouts to set up a final play, but with less than a second remaining a desperation 35-footer wasn’t close, and fans flooded the floor.
“I thought the last two weeks, the practice going into the Ashland game and the Madison game, I felt our guys kind of refocused after a long and tough, discouraging season,” Sykes said. “We wiped the slate clean, got back to the basics in the last two weeks and they’ve bought into what we’re trying to do.”
Ware paced the Tygers with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and snatched six rebounds. But Senior High boasted several contributors. Nathan Haney chipped in 10 points, Ja’Ontay O’Bryant had eight points, Kincade Gibson netted seven points and four rebounds, and Bradley handed out five assists.
Mansfield Senior earned a 27-26 rebounding edge in a game where neither team had more than a two-possession lead over the final 28 minutes, including three-plus quarters.
Shelby sophomore Alex Bruskotter scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while senior Marshall Shepherd added 10 points. Andre Hill had nine points and Ramsey contributed eight for the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champions.
The victory was sweet revenge for Sykes’ squad, which coughed up a 17-point halftime lead in falling to Shelby 64-61 on Jan. 25. But this game was the one Mansfield Senior fans will long remember.
The Tygers (7-15) weathered a grueling season, which included a 10-game losing streak, yet have responded in the tournament. Senior High blew out Galion in a running-clock affair, and dismissed the Whippets to reach next week’s district tournament.
Mansfield Senior, which has played the third-most difficult Division II schedule in Ohio, is benefitting from the fruits of that hazardous road.
The Tygers will meet Ohio Cardinal Conference rival Lexington on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Ashland District tournament. The Minutemen earned a sectional crown by thumping Clear Fork 60-26 on Friday night at Bucyrus.
“We’ve been in several of these tough games, we’ve had three buzzer beaters in our conference alone,” Sykes said. “Those are devastating. For us to have the opportunity to play for a championship and do it against a quality opponent like Shelby, it’s a great opportunity and we took advantage of it.
“The way we’ve played in the tournament is the way we thought we’d play all season. It’s better late than never.”
