AKRON — The clock struck midnight on Mansfield Senior’s fairy tale postseason run Saturday night.
Nationally-ranked Lakewood St. Edward outscored the Tygers 24-7 in the second quarter and stormed to a 74-47 win in the Division I regional championship game inside the University of Akron’s James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Eagles (24-2) will play Cleveland East Tech in a state semifinal game Friday at The Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. East Tech edged Uniontown Lake 62-60 in overtime in the Cleveland regional championship game.
Mansfield Senior finished an adversity-filled season at 19-8.
Ranked 21st in the nation by USA Today, St. Edward looked the part. The Eagles were big, long and athletic.
“You’ve got to give it up to a great St. Ed’s program. It was well deserved,” Senior High coach J.T. Reese said. “We expected to guard them better and we didn’t do that. They rebound the ball very well, they run the floor very well and I thought we were caught up in the moment. They are an experienced team and they took advantage of it.”
The Tygers kept it close early, trailing 18-11 after the first quarter. The Eagles opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run and took a 29-11 lead on a Marsalis Hamilton dunk with 5:09 to play in the second quarter.
“The first quarter I thought it was one of those feeling-out periods,” St. Edward coach Eric Flannery said. “As much as I watched them on film, it’s really hard to get a sense of their speed. It’s hard to get a sense of playing five guards on the floor quite a bit. So a lot of the first quarter was really, how are we going to match up with their speed and how are they going to attack us?
“I thought the way we played in the second quarter was as good as we have played all year. … We played like a really good basketball team in the second quarter.”
Making matter worse for the Tygers, forward Jalen Reese picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter. He spent the rest of the half on the bench.
“We knew that one of their guys was in foul trouble,” Flannery said. “This is an opportunity for us to really start attacking them and maybe pull away a little bit.
“Again, you can say all that stuff as a coach … but it doesn’t always work that way. I’m just fortunate that these guys are very talented.”
The Tygers forced 11 first-half turnovers, but were out-rebounded 19-11.
“That’s a solid program over there. It’s hard to rattle a team that plays with the energy and the effort and determination that they have,” Reese said. “In the midst of us being caught up in the moment, they were continuing to score.
“We knew coming in, it was going to be a length issue. So we tried to negate that with some pressure. In the first half, we didn’t get underneath them as well as we needed to which allowed them to get some good looks at the basket. I don’t remember them missing a whole bunch of shots tonight.”
The Eagles were a sizzling 16-for-22 from the field in the first half and 27-for-44 for the game.
Trailing 42-18 at halftime, Mansfield Senior made its stand in the third quarter. The Tygers outscored St. Edward 22-13 in the period. DeJorr Gibson and Chek Washington scored all 22 of Senior High’s points in the period.
“We were just thinking about getting back in the (game) and turning up the momentum,” Washington said.
Senior High trailed 55-40 after three quarter, but any thoughts the Tygers had of making a fourth-quarter comeback were short-lived. The Eagles opened the period on a 15-1 run and took a 70-41 lead ona pair of Pat Riley free throws with 3:30 remaining. It wasn’t long until both coaches emptied their benches.
“We were able to make things happen, but we still came up short,” Gibson said.
Gibson and Washington scored 14 points apiece to lead Senior High. Naradain James had six points, while Jalen Reese added five.
Tony Vuyancih led St. Edward with 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Hamilton had 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Mike Ryan added 10 points and six boards.
St. Edward will be making its eighth trip to the state tournament and second in three seasons. The Eagles won it all in 1998 and were second in 2008.
“I know I’ve gone (to the Final Four) seven or eight times now, but every time is great,” Flannery said. “It’s a great feeling as a coach and I told these guys afterward it’s about them.
“For them to experience a trip to Columbus and the Final Fours, there’s nothing like it.”
Meanwhile, Reese will bid farewell to seven seniors.
“I’m extremely proud of my team and my coaches,” Reese said. “We did a lot this season and came up a little short.
“We were down but, just like we had all year, we fought … and time ran out on us.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
