MANSFIELD — Cary Craner didn’t need to be reminded of the significance of Mansfield Christian’s 70-49 win over Lucas at The Furnace on Friday night.
MCS’s fifth-year coach was painfully aware of the recent history between the Flames and Cubs.
Evan Hager scored 22 points as Mansfield Christian completed the season sweep of Lucas and stayed in the hunt for the Mid-Buckeye Conference crown.
The last time Mansfield Christian (10-7, 6-1) swept the season series with Lucas (3-13, 2-4) was in 2015-16. The teams split in 2016-17 before the Cubs won 16 straight from 2017-18 to 2023-24.
“To sweep Lucas, that’s exciting. It hasn’t been done in a long time,” Craner said. “Late in the game when we pulled our starters, (assistant coach) Marty McKenzie leaned over and asked, ‘When is the last time you cleared the bench against Lucas?’
“I don’t know if it’s ever happened.”
A senior sharpshooter, Hager scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half as the Flames built a 30-22 advantage. He finished just three points shy of matching his career high of 25.
“Lucas has been on top of the conference for a long time,” Hager said. “Coming into the season, we thought this could be the year that we finally knock them off.”
High-flying sophomore Davion Mack was face-guarded much of the night, but still managed to score 17 points. His highlight-reel windmill dunk midway through the fourth quarter gave the Flames a 59-35 lead and brought the MCS student section to its feet.
“I’ve seen a lot of defenses like that, so it’s really important to have teammates step up,” Mack said. “Without my teammates, I wouldn’t be able to do that much.”
Senior Evan Keib added nine points for the Flames. Fellow senior Taylor Hahn had seven and junior Josiah Schleusener chipped in with six.
“We had some other guys make shots,” Craner said. “We talked all week about playing as a team and I think we did that tonight. When we play like that, I think we can be pretty good.”
Junior forward Hayden Maloney led Lucas with 22 points. Senior forward Zac Winters added 17.
The Cubs, who played only six players, were outscored 40-27 in the second half.
“We played OK in the first but … we don’t have many bodies and they get tired. That’s how it goes,” veteran Lucas coach Taylor Iceman said. “We don’t take care of the ball. We turn the ball over way too much.
“When you turn the ball over as many times as we do, you don’t give yourself a chance to win.”
Mansfield Christian will travel to Kidron Central Christian next Friday for the de facto MBC championship game. The Comets beat St. Peter’s 70-58 on Friday and are alone atop the MBC standings at 11-5, 6-0.
KCC rallied to beat Mansfield Christian 51-47 in the first meeting at The Furnace in early-January.
“The kids know what is waiting for them next week, but they had to take care of business this week before they could worry about that one,” Craner said. “We were up on Central the first time and gave it away, We’re hoping to go over there and redeem ourselves.
“That’s all you can ask for, a chance to win a conference championship.”