The Bill Frye Invitational has been a staple of western Arkansas basketball tournaments for years now and programs of every shape and size are in attendance again this year. The 2022 invitational brings schools from all over the compass to Mansfield. They come to The Jungle from as far north as Elkins to down south in Waldron. From the eastern Two Rivers school district to literally across the river with Vian, Oklahoma. The Lady Tigers have made it a habit of taking on all comers, so the Bill Frye Invitational is something they were eager to play. Game one for Mansfield was against the Two Rivers Lady Gators.
The Lady Tigers easily won the tipoff and it was game on from there. Well, it was game on for Two Rivers anyhow. Mansfield struggled to shake off their Jingle Bells Christmas spirit early on which allowed the Lady Gators to hang in the game and gain momentum. Kaylee Ward put the Lady Tigers on the board first with a smooth board bucket, but Two Rivers copied that move on the other end of the court to tie the game 2-2. Alyson Edwards sank a free throw to regain the lead but instead of Mansfield pulling away with their high-octane offense, the Lady Tigers had to rely on defense to keep Two Rivers at bay. Defense is the M.O. for Mansfield’s Trinity Triska and she was all over the opportunity to showcase her skills. Triska had no problems keeping the Lady Gators down and began to force turnovers and made steals of her own to get Mansfield rolling again. The Lady Tigers finally began to warm up towards the end of the first quarter with Natalie Allison swooping in for an unopposed layup, Alyson Edwards powering in for a putback score, and Harlie Fuller draining a deep-range three-point shot. Two Rivers wouldn’t go away though and scored at the buzzer to end the opening quarter with Mansfield only up 14-7.
It didn’t take long for Two Rivers to close the score gap on Mansfield early on in the second quarter. Mental mistakes, missed shots, and bad passes took the Lady Tigers by the tail and Two Rivers quickly took advantage with a six-point run on Mansfield to bring the game within one point. With their back against a 14-13 wall, the Lady Tigers began to step it up. Kaylee Ward knocked down back-to-back duces off the backboard to give Mansfield some breathing room. Not to be outdone by her “little” sister, Kynslee Ward lasered in a scorching three-point shot and then swatted the ensuing Two Rivers inbound back to the Lady Gators creating a turnover. Harlie Fuller brought the fight to the Lady Gators by brawling on the floor to give Mansfield the ball back with a tie-up jump ball. With the ball back in the Lady Tigers hands, Natalie Allison swished a three-point shot forcing Two Rivers to call a time-out. The time out didn’t chill Mansfield’s hot run though as Two Rivers was walloped by the Lady Tigers “A-Team”. Natalie Allison stole the ball from the Lady Gators and dished it to Alyson Edwards who showed no pity for blue as she sank a three-point shot. The quarter closed out with an ever-exciting Kynslee Ward breakaway layup as the teams went into halftime with Mansfield leading Two Rivers 29-13.
The third quarter began and ended in true Lady Tigers fashion. Mansfield rolled through the third quarter with ease as the Lady Tigers defense held Two Rivers to merely seven points. That’s when Mansfield’s offense began to leave burn streaks on the hardwood. Kaylee Ward and Alyson Edwards wrote their names on the backboards with a permanent marker as the duo fought for rebounds and putbacks on the Lady Gators less aggressive defense. Natalie Allison got another three and then followed the big score with an even bigger layup to extend the Lady Tigers lead even further. Then you have Kynslee Ward doing…..Kynslee Ward things. Steals, layups, free throws, basically if it’s a basketball stat, Ward was able to easily check it off. With Mansfield large and in charge, the Lady Tigers ushered in some fresh legs. Mansfield doesn’t have subs as their fresh legs though, they have equals. Skylynn Harris made that point very clear as she hit the Lady Gators right in the chompers with a three-point shot to give Mansfield a 44-20 lead to end the third quarter.
Mansfield emptied the benches for the final quarter against the Lady Gators. If there were any question of how deep the talent is on the Lady Tigers team, it was put to rest as Mansfield held Two Rivers to merely two fourth-quarter points while the Lady Tigers put up an additional eight points. Seven Sanderson took the rebounding title in the fourth quarter by snatching the ball off the backboards with ease while also putting a steal and two points by her name in the stat book. Brooklyn Adams showed her defensive demeanor with some “in yo face” coverage which forced Two Rivers to panic with their passes creating turnovers. Skylynn Harris blocked a Lady Gators shot which led to Raine Hecox securing an on the line two-point swish. Although the offensive fireworks weren’t as bright as the game came to a close, Brooklyn Adams, Skylynn Harris, Raine Hecox, Trinity Triska, and Kaylie Lowery dropped a blinding atom bomb of defense to lead the Lady Tigers to a 52-22 win over Two Rivers.
A win to start off your own home-court invitational is what any program would want. But the Lady Tigers are aiming to not only win a game or two, they want to win the whole thing. Mansfield has moved into the winning side of the bracket with Hackett, Paris, and Mulberry. The competition will continue to get tougher as the Bill Frye Invitational moves forward with Hackett facing off against Paris and the Lady Tigers taking on Mulberry in Round2. The winners of those games will meet on Friday, December 30th for the Bill Frye Invitational championship.
