CRESTLINE — It was a must-win game, but that’s nothing new for Mansfield Christian.
Blayne Morrow led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points and the Flames kept their Mid-Buckeye Conference championship hopes alive with a critical, 48-34 win at Crestline on Friday.
MCS (7-4, 4-1) avenged a season-opening loss to the Bulldogs and moved a game ahead of Kidron Central Christian (7-3, 3-1) in the MBC title chase.
Crestline (7-7, 3-2) beat the Flames 51-45 at The Furnace back on Dec. 5. With only eight conference games in the five-team MBC, a second loss would be difficult to overcome.
“That’s what we talked about,” Flames’ coach Cary Craner said. “I told them in the locker room we can’t be content with where we’re at. We’ve got to want more and get better.”
Ball security
Mansfield Christian committed several costly turnovers in the first meeting with Crestline. This time around, the Flames had just a handful of miscues.
“We talked a lot about live-ball turnovers,” Craner said. “We had one 10-second count and I said we’ll take that over a live-ball turnover and a layup.”
Crestline led 6-3 midway through the first quarter before Landin Cyphers went on a personal 8-0 run. His second 3-pointer of the period gave MCS an 11-6 lead with less than a minute to play in the opening period.
Second-quarter surge
The Flames led 13-8 after the opening quarter, but Crestline cut it to 15-12 on Kieran Barnett’s 3-pointer with 6:37 to play before halftime. MCS responded with a 10-0 run and took a 25-12 lead on Joshua Hillman’s layup with 1:45 to play in the opening half. Hillman scored six points in the second quarter.
“We just didn’t execute,” Crestline coach Paul Webb said. “We missed too many shots … and we’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. If you lose the turnover battle, you’re not going to win very many games.”
Weathering the storm
Mansfield Christian led 27-14 at the half, but Crestline opened the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers and cut the deficit to 29-20. MCS answered with an 8-0 bust.
“Defense tonight was key for us,” Craner said. “We played great team defense.”
The Flames led 41-23 going to the fourth period and were never seriously tested again. Cyphers and Josiah Schleusener backed Morrow with nine points. Hillman added eight.
Kody Lawhorn led Crestline with 15 points. Weston Clark and Quentin Kapp each had six.
Showdown
Mansfield Christian will host Kidron Central Christian on Feb. 6. The Flames beat the Comets 53-46 in their first meeting in Kidron.
“Kidron will be the last conference game of the year and we’ve got to be ready for them,” Kraner said. “They’re playing really good. It will be a fun one I think.”