Anytime the Mansfield Jr High Lady Tigers are on the court, a victory is expected. But on Monday, January 13th, the Lady Tigers were faced with an actual challenge as the Cedarville Lady Pirates pushed Mansfield to their limit. It took the Lady Tigers a full four quarters to finally sink Cedarville, but sink they did.
The first quarter was full of mental mistakes by both squads as bad passes were made and simple shots seemed daunting. Ending the quarter with a mere 8-6 score in the Lady Tigers’ favor, you could feel the tension in the air. Once both teams got a feel for each other, what was a sloppy offensive game soon became a solid defensive game. Steals, blocks, rebounds, and pure aggression was the name of the game. With all of that on the court at once, the Lady Tigers still held on to a small 18-11 lead at the half.
The third quarter was a mixer filled with a combination of the first half. But, as everyone knows, the fourth quarter is where games are won. The Lady Tigers came to life as they sent a title wave of Mansfield Lady Tiger basketball roaring towards Cedarville. Mansfield brushed off their offensive rust and laid down the law of Tiger court.
The break-out star of the night award most definitely goes to freshman Seven Sanderson who led the way with a season-high 11 points including going 5/6 from the free-throw line. Harlie Fuller and Natalie Allison made short work of the Lady Pirates with cat-like moves to score seven points each. Skylynn Harris used her keen precision to knock down four points.
Kynslee Ward made four points and seven of the 21 total steals. Ward is now just a slight handful of steals away from setting the junior high steals record in a season. Alyson Edwards played another incredible game where she yet again earned a double-double on the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
After Monday nights out of this world victory against the Cedarville Lady Pirates, the Mansfield Jr High Lady Tigers move full speed ahead in their season with an 11-2 basketball record. The junior high will play their makeup away game against Greenland on Wednesday, January 15th at 4:00 then turn around and play Charleston at home on Thursday, January 16th at 6:00.
