The Lady Tigers went into the Arkansas 2A State Tournament with a 24-7 overall record as the 2A-4 Co-Conference Champions, the 2A-4 District Champions, and the 2A West Regional Runner Ups. All of that is fine and dandy if that’s all you’re capable of. But the Arkansas State Championship, now that is the goal of goals for the Lady Tigers. Mansfield started the tournament off by redeeming a 2022 loss to England in Round1 of the 2023 State Tournament with a 62-38 blowout to get one step closer to their goal. Round2 on the other hand seemed like it would be much tougher on paper as they faced the 1Seeded Fordyce Lady Red Bugs. The teams matched up well in size and skill which left only one factor to determine a winner. Determination.
Mansfield started off with freshman Kaylee Ward winning the opening jump and it was game on from there. The Lady Tigers wasted little time scoring as Natalie Allison pulled the plug on the Lady Red Bugs by draining three straight three-pointers. With the threat of arc shots evident, Fordyce moved out to the perimeter to defend any big points. Mansfield then switched gears and started dishing the ball into the paint which allowed the Lady Tigers to outrebound Fordyce and go back up with putback points. Fordyce was able to bring the opening quarter to a four point gap off of free throws but couldn’t seem to keep up with the red-hot Lady Tigers. Kaylee Ward and Alyson Edwards stood tall at the backboard and put through shot after shot as the first quarter ended with Mansfield leading 20-13.
A slow start to the second quarter by Mansfield brought the Lady Red Bugs back within five points again, but the Lady Tigers endeavored to persevere off of pure hustle. Fordyce applied some full-court pressure to slow the Lady Tigers back down, a tactic that proved to be effective early. The pressure made Mansfield make sloppy passes, miss shots, and even rack up six charged fouls as Fordyce continued to keep the game close with a 24-18 score. Although Mansfield was playing good defense, the Lady Red Bugs would not back down as both teams traded blows on each end of the court. The Lady Tigers offensive cold streak finally ended with a Kynslee Ward three-pointer. Alyson Edwards powered in for a rebound and board bucket to close the hard fought half with the Lady Tigers up by a dime, 29-19.
Fordyce opened the second half on offense but the Lady Tigers stole the ball and roared downcourt to capitalize with a smooth Kaylee Ward hook shot. The tide quickly switched again though with back-to-back Lady Tiger turnovers that gave Fordyce six points closing Mansfield’s lead to 31-25. Kynslee Ward broke another Fordyce run as she drove the ball into the paint to drop in a layup. The score helped, but didn’t stop the Lady Red Bugs. As fouls and mental mistakes by the Lady Tigers piled up, Fordyce began to smell blood and went after Mansfield hard. That “hard” was taken by Kynslee Ward who drew a charge call to give Mansfield the ball right back. Ward then sank a long range three-pointer to set the score at 38-26 in Mansfield’s favor. Skylynn Harris quickly added a board bucket of her own and was followed up by a Kynslee Ward reverse layup. Kaylee Ward then took a rebound and added a putback to close the third quarter with a 44-28 lead in Mansfield’s favor.
It all would come down to the final quarter. The Lady Red Bugs opened the final quarter by hitting a three-pointer, took a steal, and then drew a foul to boot. With an explosive start by Fordyce, Mansfield leaned on their fast-paced offense to try to wear down Fordyce. The plan was effective and forced Fordyce to call a time-out with 6:46 left in the game and a 49-35 score. The Lady Red Bugs kept momentum coming out of the time out with a layup and drew a couple of fouls against Mansfield along the way to close the score within ten points. Unfortunately for the Layd Red Bugs, they made a mistake shortly after that. A “big” mistake. The Lady Red Bugs left Mansfield’s 6’4 freshman, Kaylee Ward, wide open under the rim. Ward dropped the ball through the net for an easy bucket to put the Lady Red Bugs on ice. Mansfield began to pass around the ball to slow the game down with 1:48 left on the clock. Fordyce would make back-to-back steals on the Lady Tigers in the final seconds, but capitalizing with points wasn’t as easy as Mansfield rolled on to a 53-39 victory over Fordyce.
The Mansfield Lady Tigers have earned a spot in the Arkansas 2A State Tournament semifinals. If you want to add some pizzazz to that phrase, you can say that this is March Madness and Mansfield is in the Final 4. Joining the Lady Tigers in the Final 4 will be the Hector Lady Wildcats, Conway Christian Lady Eagles, and Mount Vernon-Enola Lady Warhawks. Mansfield will face off against Mount Vernon-Enola on Saturday, March 4th at 6:00pm in Rector. The Lady Warhawks have been keyed as the number one 2A girls team in the state for months now and Mansfield is on a red-hot streak so make no bones about it, this game will be an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
Photos courtesy of Jeanie Keomoungkhoune
