By Megan Hecox
The Mansfield Jr High Tigers took their game on the road and headed to Elkins to face the Elks in last nights match. The Jr Lady Tigers fell short to the Lady Elks 34-26 and the Tigers came in with a 35-22 loss.
Mansfield’s Jr Boys are looking to find a solution to their second-half kryptonite issues. The Tigers have been ahead at halftime in a few games this season only to watch that lead dwindle away. The Tigers Coach Kent Elmore said “We played one good half of basketball last night. We have to improve on finishing our games. Being up at halftime and not being able to finish it off is very frustrating for everyone. We are where we need to be, we just have to start closing close games out.”
The loss to Elkins puts the Tigers at 3-2 in conference play. But before they go into the seasons break, they must square off against a talented group of Pirates from Greenland. If the Tigers can beat the Pirates this Thursday, it’ll give them the upper hand going into 2019 play. When asked how this season compares to last year Coach Elmore said “The seasons are very similar to each other. I lost some great players last year. Last year we got off to a much slower start in regards to wins and losses. But we turned it on late. This year we have hit a good positive stride in conference play and I hope to continue that after the break. All in all, we have much more depth this year and it’s nice having 4 freshmen on the floor at one time.
The Jr Lady Tigers couldn’t seem to get a firm grip on the Elks last night. Although the final score put the Lady Tigers at a loss, they went shot for shot with a larger Elkins team. Mansfield’s Lady Tigers Coach Erica McKay said “We did not come out and execute well last night. We have to improve on being strong with the ball and cutting down on our turnovers. We are going to continue to work extremely hard on taking care of the ball. We also need to increase our intensity on defense.” The Lady Tigers will brush the Elkins game off as a lesson learned and concentrate on the next task ahead in the Greenland Pirates.
The Jr Tigers and Lady Tigers will have home court advantage this Thursday as they face off against the Greenland Pirates at 4:00 pm.
