BELLVILLE – After a season-opening loss to Crestview, the Mansfield Christian Flames had 10 days before their next game.
That meant one thing – lots of practice. It was not a lot of fun, but the effort paid dividends Tuesday night in a 62-49 non-league win at Clear Fork.
“I told the kids it would be some rough practices … and they were,” Mansfield Christian coach John Kurtz said. “We brought our captains in Monday and told them. They knew we needed to practice better.
“With that kind of time off, you can go one of two ways. You can hang your head or you can get better.”
The win evened Mansfield Christian’s record at 1-1. Clear Fork fell to 0-3.
THIRD-QUARTER RUN: A young Clear Fork team trailed 34-30 with 5:26 left in the third quarter after the Colts’ Christian Beer rattled in five points to start the period.
But Clear Fork turned the ball over on its next five possessions and the Flames went on a 9-0 run in the next two and a half minutes, sparked by six points from senior Brandon Mount. The Colts never got closer than nine points again.
Kurtz said the offensive effort started on the defensive end.
“We started closing out on the wings a little bit and that made it harder for them to get into their offense,” he said. “Defensively, our entire structure was much better than it was a few weeks ago.”
Mansfield Christian expanded the lead to 48-34 by the end of the quarter.
“You can’t turn the ball over five straight times against a solid team like Mansfield Christian, or anyone,” Clear Fork coach Steve Bechtel said. “That is hard to overcome.”
The Colts have a young team, with just one senior (Chase Spencer) and a freshman (A.J. Blubaugh) starting at point guard. The Flames’ roster has seven seniors, though Stevie Brown is out with a serious knee injury sustained during soccer season.
“We are still trying to find our way,” Bechtel said. “We need to become more consistent. We know we have a young team and we will make mistakes. But it can’t lead to a 9-0 run like that.”
BALANCED SCORING: Mansfield Christian had three players in double figures, led by 19 points from Mount. Sophomore point guard Jared McPeek added 15 and senior Alan Harris had 13.
“Mansfield Christian does a nice job of finding their scorers,” Bechtel said. “Mount does a great job by himself of driving to the basket and creating his own shots.”
Chance Barnett led Clear Fork with 22 points, 16 of which came in the first half. He was the only Colt in double figures.
“Chance had kind of a breakout game tonight,” Bechtel said. “He struggled a little bit the first two games, but we were fortunate he was hitting shots tonight. He is likely going to see the other team’s best defender most of the season.”
UP NEXT: Both teams have league games coming up on Friday. Mansfield Christian is at Lucas in the Mid-Buckeye Conference for the Cubs’ first game with their season delayed by the state football playoffs. Clear Fork travels to Ashland in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
