Not Without a Fight: Tygers push top-seeded Sandusky to brink, but fall in district semifinals

ASHLAND — For the second time in a month Mansfield Senior gave state-ranked Sandusky all it could handle — and for the second time in a month, the Blue Streaks found a way to win.

The top-seeded Streaks ran their winning streak to 19 games with an entertaining 84-75 win over No. 5 Senior High in a Division II district semifinal game in front of a near-capacity crowd Thursday night at Arrow Arena.

Sandusky (23-1) will play No. 3 Lexington for the district title and a berth in next week’s Sweet 16 at 4 p.m. Saturday at Ashland High School. The Minutemen beat No. 2 Shelby 76-74 in overtime in Thursday’s late game.

Mansfield Senior had its six-game winning streak snapped and ended the season 17-8. Senior High’s last loss came at home against Sandusky on Feb. 4 by a 79-74 count.

Like the first meeting, the pace in Thursday’s showdown was frenetic. The Tygers led 17-6 after a Ja’Ontay O’Bryant layup with 2:12 to play in the first quarter only to see the Streaks score 13 straight points in less than two minutes to take a 19-17 lead. An offensive rebound and putback by Senior High’s Duke Reese tied it at 19-19 at the end of the first quarter.

“We know teams will come out and give us their best shot,” Sandusky coach De’Mar Moore said. “As long as we can stay within striking distance, we know we can make a run, too. We kept our composure and were able to tie it at the end of the first.

“We expect that from Mansfield Senior. That’s a really good team. We knew it was going to be a battle.”

Sandusky took a 39-35 advantage to the half and opened a 53-43 lead on a Chayce Carr 3-pointer with 3:29 remaining in the third period. But Senior High responded with a 7-0 run and cut Sandusky’s lead to 53-50 after Jacob Legron connected on 2-of-3 free throws with 2:21 to play in the frame.

The Streaks answered back, outscoring Senior High 18-4 during a six-minute stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters. Sandusky opened its biggest lead of the night on a Jason Henlon layup with 4:13 left in the fourth, making the score 71-56.

“We just didn’t stick to the game plan enough,” Mansfield Senior coach Marquis Sykes said. “We wanted to cut down the dribble penetration and we didn’t do a great job of that. We wanted to slow them down some in transition and we didn’t do a good job of that, either.

“We played with a lot of passion, a lot of energy and a lot of effort but it wasn’t quite good enough against the No. 1 seed.”

Senior High cut Sandusky’s advantage to 78-70 on a Nathaniel Haney layup with 52 seconds to play, but would get no closer. The Blue Streaks sank seven free throws in the final minute to ice it.

Senior guard Daylen Green led a balanced Sandusky scorebook with 21 points, five rebounds and five assists. Carr added 20 points, while Henlon had 19 points and eight boards and De’Mar Moore Jr. added 13 points, nine boards and five assists.

Kyevi Roane topped Senior High with a game-high 22 points and eight boards. Reese had 12 points and 14 boards, while O’Bryant added 12 points. Ahmaan Thomas had 10 points and five rebounds.

“I’m certainly proud of how our guys stepped up and played hard,” Sykes said. “There are no moral victories whatsoever, but at the same time we recognize we have a lot of guys coming back.

“You hope a loss like this will add some fuel to the fire and allow these guys to get after it in the off-season. If we do that … we’ll put ourselves in a position to be back in this game next year.”