MANSFIELD — The Whippets shot the lights out on Saturday night at Pete Henry Gym.
Casey Lantz matched a career high with 25 points and Shelby connected on 54 percent of its field goal attempts in a 73-55 win over Mansfield Senior.
Shelby (13-2) knocked down 10-of-18 3-pointers, with Lantz draining 4-of-6 treys. He hit his first attempt from the baseline to give the Whippets a quick 7-2 lead.
“Hitting the first one really boosts the confidence,” Lantz said. “It really gets everyone going.”
The Tygers (12-4) fought back from the early deficit and took a 19-18 edge into the second quarter. Karion Lindsay’s jumper from the elbow early in the second period gave Senior High a 21-18 advantage, but Shelby outscored the Tygers 21-5 the rest of the half and took a 39-26 lead to the intermission.
“We left shooters, gave up offensive rebounds and we missed four bunnies,” Senior High coach Marquis Sykes said of his team’s second-quarter meltdown. “That’s the difference in the game.
“It’s tough to swallow.”
Shelby was especially lethal from beyond the arc in the first half. The Whippets connected on 8-of-11 triples in the opening two periods.
“I thought our 3s were good shots,” Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said. “We’ve had games this year where we haven’t shot the ball particularly well because it’s usually off one pass and (the shots) are semi-contested.
“I thought today we worked from the inside out and we found our shooters. Those were good shots.”
The Tygers made things interesting early in the third, cutting Shelby’s margin to 41-33 on a Lindsay layup with 5:36 to play in the period. Shelby closed the quarter on a 14-8 run and took a 55-41 gap to the final eight minutes.
“We felt like if we could get it to eight early in the third quarter, we would give ourselves a shot,” Sykes said. “We got it down to eight, but we didn’t make the plays to keep it there.
“We just could never get over the hump tonight.”
Alex Bruskotter and Issaiah Ramsey backed Lantz with 16 points apiece. Brayden DeVito had 13 points, including three treys.
Rashad Reed Jr. led Senior High with 15 points. Lindsay had 13, while Kyevi Roane added 11.
Shelby has won seven straight games and scored a season-high 96 points in Friday’s Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference win over Highland. The Whippets are averaging 70 points a game and have a two-game lead over River Valley in the chase for the MOAC title.
“(The postseason) is a ways away, but we feel like we are in a good spot,” Gallaway said. “Our No. 1 goal is to win a conference championship, and that is something we can take care of next week against a very good River Valley team.
“We want to continue taking care of business in our league, and then we can let the rest fall into place.”