MANSFIELD — Kyevi Roane and his Mansfield Senior teammates played Tyger basketball Tuesday night.
Roane scored a game-high 24 points as fifth-seeded Senior High raced to an 81-46 win over 10th-seeded Ontario in a Division II sectional semifinal game at Pete Henry Gym.
The Tygers (17-6) forced 17 Ontario turnovers and swiped 20 offensive rebounds, resulting in a 21-3 advantage in second-chance points. Mansfield Senior outrebounded the Warriors 42-17.
“That’s how we practice and that’s how we play. We like playing fast,” said Roane, who averaged 17.4 points a game during the regular season. “When we’re playing fast, the game is in our favor most of the time.”
The Warriors (6-17) led 9-7 less than two minutes into a frenetic first quarter before the Tygers reeled off an 11-0 spree. A steal and layup by D.J. Corbin with 3:52 remaining gave Senior High an 18-9 advantage.
Ontario responded with five straight points to slice Senior High’s edge to 18-16 on a Landon Foltz layup with 2:01 showing in the first quarter. The Tygers closed the period with six unanswered points and took a 24-16 bulge into the second frame.
“That’s what we want to do,” Senior High coach Marquis Sykes said. “We enjoy being able to play in a game that’s up-and-down.
“Our guys were kind of chomping at the bit because they felt like it would be a fast-paced game.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Ontario’s Grayson Purvis in the opening minutes of the second quarter cut Senior High’s lead to 24-22. An offensive rebound and putback by Roane with 6:42 remaining in the half sparked a 19-8 flurry for a 43-30 halftime lead.
Mansfield Senior’s lead ballooned to 66-46 after the third quarter as the Tygers’ relentless pressure took its toll. Senior High held Ontario scoreless in the final period to win going away.
“I didn’t realize it as it was happening,” Sykes said of the fourth-quarter shutout. “I really think we kind of wore them down a little bit.
“We put a high emphasis on our conditioning and getting up and down and playing fast. We were able to play everybody.”
Rashad Reed Jr. backed Roane with 15 points. Duke Reese added 10, while Corbin and Carter Kessler each had eight. Ja’Ontay O’Bryant had five points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
Grayson Purvis paced Ontario with 18 points, including five 3-pointers. Brady Zehe had 14 points.
Mansfield Senior advances to Friday’s sectional championship game at fourth-seeded Bellevue (17-5).
“We consider ourselves the underdogs. They are the higher seed and we’re going on the road,” Sykes said. “It will be a different style.
“There will be some things we’ll need to work on in the next couple of days to get ready for what they bring to the table.”