MANSFIELD — The most highly anticipated season since Y2K tipped off on a snowy Friday night at Pete Henry Gym and Mansfield Senior didn’t disappoint.
The Tygers raced out to an 18-5 first-quarter lead and cruised to an 86-45 win over crosstown rival Madison in the Ohio Cardinal Conference opener for both teams.
Mansfield Senior coach J.T. Reese’s 13-man varsity roster includes 10 seniors. Six of them, including 6-foot-6 center Donovyn Benson and 6-7 forward Robert Jones, saw significant playing time while helping the Tygers to a 21-4 record and a district runner-up finish last March.
The last time there was this much preseason buzz surrounding a Senior High team was 1999-2000, when high-flyers Ricky Minard and Herman Davis were gearing up for their senior year. The Tygers, who had advanced to the Final Four the previous season, reached the regional championship before being ousted by Toledo Libbey that year.
So just how good are the 2013-14 Tygers (1-0, 1-0)?
“We have the potential to be special if we keep our eyes on the prize,” said Benson, who scored a game-high 17 points and swiped a game-high 11 rebounds. “We have size, athleticism and chemistry. Now we need to work on our focus and getting better every day.”
If there was one chink in Senior High’s armor, it was supposed to be its perimeter shooting. The Tygers lost record-setting sharpshooter Keon Johnson to graduation. The undersized Johnson, who has started all seven games for Division I Winthrop and is averaging a team-high 13.4 points a night, capped a brilliant four-year varsity with 1,279 career points, second on Senior High’s career scoring list to 1988 graduate Dapreis Owens (1,478).
If Friday’s performance was any indication, Reese has nothing to worry about.
Mansfield Senior connected on 10 of 19 3-pointers. Junior Naradain James, a 6-6 swingman, knocked down all three of his trey attempts while scoring 15 points in his first varsity start.
“It feels good. I put in a lot of work in the summer and it feels good for it all to pay off for me,” said James, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. “I was real nervous at first, but I got over it and got in my groove a little bit.”
The Rams (0-2, 0-1), who dropped a heart-breaker to Shelby in last week’s opener, started the second quarter on a 10-2 run and cut Senior High’s advantage to 20-15 on freshman Tyrell Ajian’s 3-pointer off a Bryce Lucky assist. That was as close as the Rams would get, however, as Mansfield Senior responded with a 12-3 run. Benson did most of the damage, scoring seven straight second-quarter points and 11 in the period.
“He moves his body well and he puts himself in a successful position,” Madison coach Tim Mergel said of Benson. “He sets himself up on angles so well and that’s tough to teach. He’s been doing it since his sophomore year.”
James shouldered the scoring load in the third, dropping 10 of his 15 in the period. His trey with 5:09 remaining gave the Tygers a 52-31 advantage.
“I’ve seen that kid play and if he wants to play, he’s the best player on the floor by far,” Mergel said. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”
The Tygers connected on 29 of 56 feld goals (52 percent), including 10 of 19 treys (53 percent). What’s more, Senior High had 18 assists, the most by a Mansfield Senior team since Jan. 7, 2011 (18 assists on 29 field goals in a 76-57 win at Ashland).
“I see 18 assists and that lets me know they listened,” Reese said. “The mantra was everybody needs to touch the ball. When that happens, people run and easy buckets (result). I thought we had a couple runs when we separated ourselves and we did that with defense. I would imagine a majority of (Madison’s) 27 turnovers came during those spurts.”
Chek Washington, who missed most of the preseason while recovering for a shoulder injury sustained during football season, backed Benson and James with 11 points. Jalen Reese added 10, including a fourth-quarter dunk.
Bryce Luckie topped the Rams with 15 points. Ajian added 12.
In junior varsity action, Senior High outscored Madison 25-12 in the fourth quarter for a 57-50 win. Raheem Clark led the way for the Tygers with 14 points, while Link Briggs added 10. Jabari Caldwell had 12 points for Madison. Jesse Weightman added 11.
Both teams return to action this afternoon. Mansfield Senior hosts Toledo Scott in a tripleheader with the freshman game tipping at 2 p.m. The Rams visit Galion.
