On Monday, December 2, the Mansfield Jr High Tigers hosted the Magazine Rattlers in a you snooze you lose basketball match. With both Tiger teams combined, they were able to put a total of 96 points up to Magazines combined 26. The Jr Lady Tigers were up first to sink or swim and by the end of the game, it was apparent that Mansfield was prepared to swim the English Channel. The Lady Tigers took the incredible win 54-9.
Skylynn Harris was hot on her game Monday night as she laid dominance to 16 Lady Tiger points all being made by 3-point shots. Natalie Allison followed suit with 12 points. And Kynslee Ward, Harlie Fuller, Alyson Edwards, Raine Hecox, Seven Sanderson, and Brooklyn Adams combined for the remaining 26 points. Quick to lay claim on the ball was Cassidy Carlton, Lita Hecox, and Serenity Brunson with a total of six rebounds. And like a thief in the night, the Lady Tigers took 22 steals.
Next up to put it through for two were the Jr boys. It was fast-paced hoop action for the Tigers when at the sound of the final buzzer, they sent the Rattlers packing with a loss of 42-17. “Offensively we did a good job running our man offense forcing Magazine to switch to zone early in the contest,” explains Coach Keith Stovall. “Scoring by quarter was balanced as we scored 11 points in the 1st, 3rd and 4th quarters and 9 in the second. Our individual scoring was also balanced.”
“Tyler Turnipseed led us with 11 points followed by Clint Stovall with 10 points. (That is the kind of scoring we need each game out of our primary ball handlers.) Austin Quinalty chipped in nine points and did a fantastic job with interior passing. Darton Hoopengarner added five followed by Braxton Byers with four and Zach Hayslip with two. Free Throw shooting has got to improve. Going 4 for 14 at the line is not going to get it done most nights.”
“I thought our ball-handling got a little too cute and lazy at times. Particularly in the 2nd half as Magazine brought some full-court pressure. The dribbling between the legs and behind the back looks good in the NBA but can get you into a lot of trouble in Junior High. Also, in the 2nd half, we got a little impatient with our shot selection. When you build a 20+ point lead there is no need to pull the trigger on a one-pass into the offense perimeter shot. The clock is your ally at this time and when a team gets that far behind they need the ball back. So they will leave those shots wide open, hope you miss and use it like a turnover.”
“Defensively we had a solid performance throughout the game. It did slack off a bit in the second half and we started giving up way too many second-chance scoring opportunities. Also, we have to be more physical on the interior. NO Free Rides Across The Lane. Any cutter into the lane should be contacted by one of our defenders. We also allowed them to take position from us. Six of Magazine’s points came on inbounds plays where they simply just bodied our players up and moved them out of the way. Good night for us and a good win. All the things we need to improve on are easily fixable with good effort in practice.”
The Jr High Tigers have a week off before getting back into the action with their first conference game of the season at Charleston against the Tigers. On Monday, December 9, the 7th grade Tigers will play first starting at 4:30 p.m. followed by Jr High. May the best Tiger win!
