Pictured is Tyler Turnipseed
The Mansfield Jr Tigers have yet to not show up to a game this season and give it all they have. With plenty of talent and gritty attitude on the court, anyone who has faced this crew has walked off with Tigers in their nightmares. Although the Jr Tigers dropped a 29-23 heartbreaker against Mountainburg Tuesday, January 12th, you can rest assured that the Dragons aren’t wanting to face Mansfield again any time soon.
Mansfield started off the game swarming the Dragon’s offense with steals and rebounds at every turn. Although Mountainburg had the size advantage on the Tigers’ defense, Mansfield found a way to chop them down to size. The Tiger’s defense was salty, but their offense had issues with the towering Dragons. At the end of the 1st quarter, the scoreboard looked like a baseball game with Mountainburg holding a slim 5-2 lead. Going into the second quarter, both teams were at a loss on how to gain the upper hand on each other. The Dragons pulled up with a lead early in the 2nd quarter, but Mansfield was right there clawing away to pull the game within 2 points going into the half with a 13-11 score barely in the Dragon’s favor.
After halftime, a mix of mental mistakes and frustration began to take its toll on the Tigers. Mansfield held off the Dragons offense again in the 3rd quarter but still was in a rut offensively. With the 3rd quarter buzzer going off and the score standing at Mountainburg 17 and Mansfield 16, fans on both sides of the court were sitting on about a ¼ inch of their seats. The Tigers clawed away at Mountainburg for half of the 4th quarter but ran into foul trouble. It was a bad scenario for Mansfield’s struggling offense as the Dragons free threw their way to a 29-23 victory over the Tigers.
Tyler Turnipseed led the Tigers in points as he was able to topple Mountainburg’s giants for 10 points in the game. The “Dominant” Dakota Langford showed no fear against his larger post opponents hanging 7 Tiger points on the board. The quick-moving duo of Travis Tobey and Peyton Martin combined for 6 points in the game. The loss brings Mansfield even in the W/L columns with a 5-5 overall record and 2-2 conference record. These boys are fighters though, and as previously noted, there aren’t many teams left on their schedule who are begging for a rematch with these scrappy basketball Tigers.
