Mansfield and Lavaca got together on Friday night to play a conference game before heading into Christmas Break. Lavaca came out on top 75-40. Coach Brown stated “We knew coming in they were really good and that we would have to have a great game. They play really good defense, physical and in your britches, and they execute offensively on the other end of the floor. They did that tonight very well. I have a lot of respect for Coach Reed and the program that he has helped build.”
Lavaca got the night started off with a baseline drive from Kolby Glidwell. Jetson Wagner would hit the first of 12 Arrow three pointers, making the score 5-0. Zayne Dugan would get the Tigers on the board with a put back basket making the score, 5-2, with 4:37 left in the first quarter of play. Drake Grantham would hit another 3 for the Arrows and Tyler Escalante would add two free throws for the Tigers. Alex Hobbs would hit a three on the next possession for Lavaca extending the lead to 11-4. With 1:20 left in the quarter Luke Watson would score his first field goal of the game but Clint Stovall would answer for the Tigers with a three point basket, making the score 13-7, Lavaca. The Arrows would end the first quarter on a 7-0 run, ending the first with a 20-7 lead.
The Tigers would start the 2nd quarter on an 8-0 run led by back to back threes from Travis Tobey and a jumper from Zayne Dugan. This would be the closest the Tigers would get as the score was 20-15 with 5:26 to go in the half. The Arrows would use a 20-0 run over the next four minutes, knocking down four threes in that stretch. Drew Elmore would stop the run with a turnaround jumper, making the score 40-17. After two free-throws from Watson, Clint Stovall would hit a three from the corner. With 4.5 second sot go in the half, Grantham would add two free throws for the Arrows. Clint Stovall would take the inbound and watch a half-court heave, bank in, to make the halftime score, 44-23.
Glidwell would make a free throw for the Arrows to start the second half. Tyler Escalante would add a three for the Tigers, netting the score at 45-26. Lavaca would use an 11-3 run to make the score 56-29 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter. Stovall would hit his fourth 3 of the game. The Arrows would outscore the Tigers 5-1 from that point to end the third, 61-33.
The teams would exchange points from the free throw line to begin the fourth quarter. J. Wagner would hit his third 3 pointer of the game to extend the lead, 66-35. The Golden Arrows would outscore the Tigers, 12-5 over the final five minutes, giving us the final of 75-40.
“We will get back to practice next week before giving our guys some time off for Christmas. I thought our guys played really hard tonight. Thought they never gave up. Lavaca is a great team and I think you will see them in the conversation come March. With that being said I think we could be a great team. We just have to continue to improve each day and I believe our guys will“, stated Mansfield Coach Brown.
The Tigers will be back in action against Paris in the first round of the Bill Frye Invitational on Tuesday December 28th.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | FINAL | |
| Lavaca | 20 | 24 | 17 | 14 | 75 |
| Mansfield | 7 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 40 |
Mansfield: C. Stovall (16), T. Escalante (7), T. Tobey (6), Z. Dugan (4), E. Pettus (2), D. Elmore (2), G. Baggett (1), Z. Hayslip (1), B. Byers (1)
Lavaca: K. Glidwell (13), J. Wagner (13), D. Grantham (10), L. Watson (10), A. Walker (9), A. Hobbs (6), J. Armistead (6), P. Owen (2), J. Johnson (2), A. Johnson (1)
