MJH Lady Tigers Show Promise

Last week the Junior Mansfield Lady Tigers basketball team competed against Magazine and Paris; both games were on the road.
The lady tigers traveled first to Magazine on Monday to compete against the Lady Rattlers. The contest got kicked off with a junior varsity game.
The lady tiger’s junior varsity team managed to beat the Lady Rattlers 16-4. Steals and scoring was led by seventh grader Olivia Bouse. She scored 6 of the teams total points and had five steals by driving the lane and hustling up and down the floor.
Other players with points are seventh grader Natalie Allison with 3 points, eighth graders Hailea Raines with 2 points, Haylee Helms with 3 points and Freshman Kaitlin Slinkard with 2.
Coach Bryan said he saw some promise with his team. “They impressed me with their shooting and ball discipline on offense.”
After the Junior varsity game, the varsity team took the floor. At half time the score was knotted up at 15 a piece. The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early third quarter lead with a couple steals for some quick points. The lead was held until some of the girls got in foul trouble and Magazine began eating at the lead with some free throw opportunities. Late in the fourth quarter the Lady Rattlers went up by one point with only 20.6 seconds left in the game.
After a costly turnover the lady Tiger’s backs were against the wall to make a steal and get it down the court for points. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts Freshman Mikayla Harrison tipped the ball up to eighth grader Sadie Roberts, who proceeded to throw it up to Freshman Danielle Lillie with only 4.8 second on the clock.
Lillie had to beat one Rattler defender to win the game, and she did so with a layup with less than a second on the clock. Leading scorers were Freshman Mikayla Harrison and Danielle Lillie, rebounds to Freshman Hailey Walker and Brooke Wright, and steals to Freshman Mikayla Harrison. “The girls played well and deserved the win they got; they endured and overcame their doubts to win the ball game” stated Bryan.
Last Thursday the Lady Tigers traveled to Paris to compete against the Lady Eagles. The Lady Tigers took an early lead and battled back and forth with Paris for three quarters. The Lady Tigers played well but just couldn’t pull out the win against the lady eagles.
“Our girls struggled making baskets today” said Coach Bryan. “We missed multiple opportunities to stay in or win the ball game with below average free throw shooting and field goals. Our defense played well but for a few small corrects that kept them from scoring inside after halftime.”
Paris shot free throws well to keep the lady tigers playing catch-up during the fourth quarter. Scoring was led by Freshman Danielle Lillie and eighth grader Sadie Roberts, rebounds by Freshman Amber Elmore, steals by Freshman Mikayla Harrison and Danielle Lillie.
Coach Bryan said that the girls are showing promise to becoming championship material; they have the know-how and the desire to win. ‘We just need to be able to score when the opportunity arises” added Bryan.
The Lady Tigers play the Waldron Lady Bulldogs on Thursday, December 21st at home starting at 5:00 pm. The Junior Varsity with Varsity games to follow. Come out to support the lady tigers as they play their last game of 2017.
They will continue their season after Christmas break on January 4th at Booneville against the Bearcats.