The 2A-4 District Tournament started on Monday, February 13th at the Mansfield High School gymnasium. With a conference full of teams that could beat anyone at any time, the anticipation of close calls, upsets, and thriller games was a guarantee. The Round1 games would consist of Magazine versus Future School and Mountainburg versus Western Yell on the boys side and Magazine versus JC Westside on the girls side.
The first game of the evening was a stunning showdown between the Magazine Rattlers and Future School Rockets boys teams. The Rockets and Rattlers took the opening quarter as a warm-up period as both teams made more fouls, turnovers, and missed shots than points on the scoreboard. Some might see that as poor playing on the floor, but in all actuality, it was just good ol’ aggressive basketball between the two solid programs. Someone had to get hot at some point though and it was Magazine who came up with a late scoring run to end the opening quarter with a 14-10 lead.
The second quarter was much hotter as the Rattlers and Rockets kept their aggressive attitudes at a high point. Each team created turnovers which led to either breakaway points or free throw points at the other end of the court. Future School began to gain momentum on the Rattlers midway through the quarter with their high-flying offensive rebounds and putbacks. The momentum sent Future School rocketing on a 10-6 run on the Rattlers which tied the game up at 20-20 with just 0:17 seconds left in the half. Magazine would pop off a smooth jump shot though to regain the lead as the teams went into halftime with the Rattlers up 22-20.
When Magazine and Future School came back to the court, it was one hundred percent game on. The Rockets quickly put up four points to take a 24-22 lead but Magazine responded with a three-point shot to take the lead back. The Rattlers would then create a turnover and capitalize with a breakaway layup to force the Rockets to call a time-out with 5:17 left in the third quarter. Future School would again bring the game within a single point with a board bucket, but the Rattlers drained another three to stretch the game back out in their favor. The back-and-forth scoring between the Rattlers and Rockets made for an action-packed quarter that ended with a 35-35 tied ball game.
There’s no script to how the first game of a District Tournament should go, but if there was, this one would be it. Future School broke the tie with a powerful board bucket which caused Magazine to call a time-out to prevent the Rockets from going on another scoring run. Both teams then sent each other to the free throw line on multiple occasions which allowed the Rockets to inch out a 39-36 lead on the Rattlers with 5:04 left in the game. This game was coming down to which team would have a player to step up and break away from the rest. The team was Magazine. The player was Nate Smith. The result was three consecutive long-range three-pointers which “rocketed” the Rattlers to a 45-39 lead over the Future School with 1:41 left on the clock. Magazine would roll on from there defeating the Future School Rockets with a final score of 50-43.
The Rattlers celebration will have to be a quick one as they head into Round2 of the 2A-4 District Tournament on Tuesday, February 14th. Their opponent will be a very familiar foe as they’ll face the Hector Wildcats. The Rattlers and Wildcats will tip off at the Mansfield High School gym at 5:30pm.
