Being a basketball junkie like I am, any basketball season is a good one, but this has a chance to be better then some.
There are a number of good teams in the Mansfield area this season in both boys’ basketball and some in girls’ this winter.
With the boys you have to start with Mansfield Senior, despite their upset loss to Lexington last week. The Tygers are deep this year and they have some good size too with Donovyn Benson and Robert Jones. They have 10 seniors that have been through a lot of big games. They force a lot of turnovers with their relentless pressure defense. However, as Lexington proved last week if you pack in your defense and smother the post and force the Tygers to take outside shots they can be beaten. Was it great defense by Lexington or just poor shooting by the Tygers? Probably a little bit of both, but to beat Mansfield Senior you must handle the ball without turnovers and hope they don’t make a lot of perimeter shots.
There were whispers around the area before this season that we were going to find our how good Ontario really is, like the last 25 years doesn’t count, because they are in a bigger league, the Northern Ohio League, but so far the unbeaten Warriors haven’t been phased. Yes, they haven’t played the other real good team in the league in Norwalk, but they have nice non-conference wins over Lexington, Wooster, and an underrated Clear Fork team. Joe Balogh’s team not only has great athleticism this year they have very good experience, and that is something you can’t teach.
It will go unnoticed by many, but I think Shelby’s Troy Schwemley has done an outstanding job with his young team. With only Tristan Kehres back with much varsity experience most people wrote in Shelby for seventh or sixth at best in the “NOL” and big loss to Sandusky seemed to confirm that. However, the Whippets have improved and gave notice when they took Ontario to the end last week.
Among small schools Mansfield St. Peter’s and Mansfield Christian share the lead in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, both are 3-0. They play each other on January 10th at the Franciscan Center in the first “Holy War” of the boys’ basketball season.
The best small school team in the Mansfield area is Plymouth, who leads the Firelands Conference standings after a win over defending champion Western Reserve last week and then beating Colonel Crawford the next night, ruining Christmas for the Sheldon brothers.
In girls’ basketball it has been a bit more of a down year this season with traditional powers Mansfield St. Peter’s, Shelby and Lexington fielding young and inexperienced rosters this year.
However, the Mansfield Senior Lady Tygers of coach Todd Krill have been flying a bit under the radar screen this season. They are 8-2 this year with their only loss in Ohio Cardinal Conference play coming to Ashland. They lost their opener to Norwalk on a last season shot. True, the Lady Tygers have not played state power West Holmes yet, but they are solid bet to make to at least the division one district final.
Although they have not lived up to their potential yet, I still think Clear Fork is on the edge of busting out to be a real good team with a solid junior class and the senior leadership of guard MacKenzie Golden.
Yeah, I have high hopes for the basketball season, but I always do.
After years of toil and sweat behind radio station microphones, longtime broadcaster, Jeff Swank joined the new generation of sports followers on the web.
Swank launched his internet radio station with nothing more than some wire, a box with some knobs and switches, and an itch to do much more than just scratch the surface of everything sports.
Richland Source is proud to introduce Jeff as a writer focused on high school sports. He will contribute a weekly column and analysis of a featured game of the week from one of our area high schools.
In addition to his work at Richland Source, Jeff provides complete high school sports coverage for over 70 Ohio schools at his web site, http://www.swankonsports.net76.net/.
