MANSFIELD — It wasn’t the coronation ceremony Mansfield Christian was hoping for, but it was the crowning achievement both the Flames and Lucas Cubs earned.
Lucas sophomore Emma Brown scored on a layup with 11 seconds remaining and the Cubs knocked off the Flames 54-52 Saturday afternoon at The Furnace.
MCS (15-4, 5-1 Mid-Buckeye Conference) had won 13 straight games and already had clinched no worse than a share of the first conference championship in program history. Lucas (11-8, 4-1) pulled even in the loss column and can claim a piece of the MBC title with a win next Saturday at Crestline.
“One of our main focuses this year was to try to get a conference title,” said Mansfield Christian coach Megan Young, who picked up her 100th career coaching victory in Thursday’s win over Elyria Open Door Christian. “We didn’t want to share it, but it is what it is at this point.”
The Cubs, meanwhile, can complete an unlikely worst-to-first journey with a win at Crestline. Lucas was winless a year ago.
“I really hope they see how big of a turnaround for the program they are making,” said first-year Lucas coach Jamie Grover, who succeeded her mother, Kathy.
Freshman Riley Trumpower is partially responsible for the remarkable revival at Lucas. She scored a game-high 23 points Saturday, including eight in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve just been really pushing hard for Jamie and this program because we’ve been struggling so much the past few years and we’ve finally pushed through,” an emotional Trumpower said. “We’ve lost so many close games this year. To finally pull out a big win, it just means so much.”
Grover pointed to a 50-47 home loss to Mansfield Christian just before Christmas as the inflection point. The Cubs trailed big at the half before rallying.
“The first game was really a turning point for my girls this season. They noticed what they were capable of,” Grover said. “Being down at halftime by such a deficit then fighting our way back boosted their confidence. We won a lot of pretty big games after that.
“Coming into tonight I told them, ‘You’ve got to go out and play your hardest and whatever happens, happens.’ ”
Lucas led 15-10 after the first quarter and 32-20 at the half, but the Flames refused to go quietly. Mansfield Christian outscored the Cubs 16-10 in the third quarter and took its first lead of the night at 50-48 on a Zy’Eir Davis layup with 1:28 remaining.
Lucas pulled even on a Trumpower layup with 58 seconds to play before Mansfield Christian’s Bailee Nelson hit a pair of free throws to give the Flames a 52-50 lead with 46.1 seconds showing on the fourth-quarter clock.
Lucas called its final timeout with 35.6 seconds left and pulled even when Shiloh Walter connected on a baseline jumper on the ensuing inbounds play, setting the stage for Brown’s late-game heroics.
Mansfield Christian called its final timeout with 9.4 seconds to play. On the inbounds play, freshman Bella Young got the ball to classmate Brooklyn Rider, whose baseline jumper bounded off the rim as time expired.
“We didn’t play up to our game at all. We didn’t take care of the ball the way we should have and we didn’t force the turnovers that we normally do,” Young said. “They did a good job of taking care of the ball and we didn’t execute on offense like we can.
“It just wasn’t our day and they showed up ready to play.”
Brown backed Trumpower with 13 points. Walter added five.
Davis paced the Flames with 19 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Rider added 14 and Nelson chipped in with 10.