There are times you can see the writing on the wall. You get that hair standing up on the back of your neck, telling you something big is coming. The Mansfield Lady Tigers have spent the past few years in the “almost” bracket of State Tournament talk. In 2021, Mansfield made it to the second round only to fall to eventual State Champion, Melbourne. The Lady Tigers followed that up with a first-round loss to England the next year. In 2023 though Mansfield steamrolled their opponents all the way to the State Semifinals where they were dropped by the 2023 State Champion Mount Vernon-Enola Lady War Hawks with a 50-30 final score. Each of those seasons, Mansfield racked up a mixed bag of Conference, District, and Regional Championships, but couldn’t step foot on the big stage in Hot Springs. After 38 years of almost making it to the State Championship, the 2024 Mansfield Lady Tigers have finally placed a period on the words written on the wall and those words read “Lady Tiger Tough”.
The 2024 Mansfield Lady Tigers submitted their resume to the State Championship in grand fashion after defeating the Izard County Lady Panthers 61-52 in the 2A State Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, March 2nd. Mansfield boasts a starting lineup with two 1,000-point players in Kynslee Ward and Alyson Edwards, a 6’4 sophomore phenom who can play any position in Kaylee Ward, the new state record holder for three-point shots made in a game with sharpshooter Harlie Fuller, and the assist assassin herself, Trinity Triska. Behind the starters are another five who have proven that they can close out games better many of than their opponent’s starters. Raine Hecox and Shelbie Fuller rotate in at times when the starters need rest or are in foul trouble. The duo shows a scrappy defensive demeanor and can drain three-pointers if given the chance. Cole Smith, Meghan Emery, and Isabella Escalante close out the Lady Tigers roster of ten and they also have shined closing out games for Mansfield. The Lady Tigers also have an undefeated 32-0 overall record, the 2A-4 Conference Championship, the 2A-4 District Championship, and the 2A West Regional Championship in their bag of credentials.
Then there’s the ever-important chemistry of the team. Seniors Kynslee Ward, Alyson Edwards, Raine Hecox, Harlie Fuller, and Cole Smith have played on the same team since little league which has developed a friendship and trust in each other for almost a decade. Although they haven’t played together for as many years as the seniors, the Lady Tigers juniors and sophomores also mixed in with the senior group in their later years of little league and have been an equal mix to the family atmosphere. Kynslee Ward and Alyson Edwards are the only two who have been starters in each of the last three consecutive State Tournament appearances for the Lady Tigers, but even they have not stepped onto the court for a State Championship in basketball. This will be a first for each Lady Tiger wearing red and white. Their opponents, on the other hand, have been there and done that.
Mount Vernon-Enola is a marque program. Dominant in their stint of 1A basketball, the Lady War Hawks moved up to 2A last season. Some may have thought the move would make things rough for the Mount Vernon-Enola program. Instead, it was rough for the rest of the 2A as the Lady War Hawks mowed down everyone in their path, including Mansfield, to win the 2023 State Championship. That run wasn’t a fluke either. The Lady War Hawks have compiled a 42-0 overall record and will bring the 2A-2 Conference Championship, 2A-2 District Championship, and the 2A Central Regional Championship with them to Hot Springs for the second year in a row. Neither Mansfield nor Mount Vernon-Enola played cupcake schedules either. The Lady Tigers had defeated State Tournament teams such as Acorn, Lavaca, Mountainburg, and Cotter before tournament play started while Mount Vernon-Enola knocked off Riverside, Izard County, Marshall, Buffalo Island, and Quitman prior to the State Tournament.
The Lady Tigers made it to the big time, but with a program like Mount Vernon Enola standing in the way of Mansfield’s first girls basketball State Championship in 38 years, the Lady Tigers will have to dig down deep to finish their page in the history books. But if you know these girls, you know that digging down deep and facing adversity as an underdog is all they know. That’s how they got to be where they are today. Even with all of the earned accolades, the Lady Tigers worked so hard to earn merely reaching the Arkansas 2A State Championship, Mansfield will enter the game as underdogs against the defending State Champions. Why? Because after all of the blood, sweat, and tears put into this amazing season, they still haven’t earned it yet. The final score will determine who earns the 2A State Championship in Hot Springs on Saturday, March 9th, but no matter the outcome, Mansfield has earned statewide respect. Best of all, everyone in the Mansfield community saw it coming when this group of Lady Tigers wrote it on the wall a long, long time ago in little league.
