The Mansfield JR Lady Tigers have been on a roll since their 2021 season started. Though a few teams have come close to dethroning the Lady Tigers, no one has been able to give Mansfield an L on their schedule yet. On Tuesday, December 16^ththe Cossatot River Lady Eagles became just another victim of the Lady Tigers as Mansfield clipped the 3A Lady Eagles 35-23 to remain undefeated.

It didn’t take long for the Lady Tigers to show Cossatot up on their home court. Playing in an ice-cold stadium, the Lady Tigers turned up the thermostat with a few three-point shots from Shelbie Fuller and Presley Curry. Cossatot quickly adjusted their defense to cover the pair of sharp shooters cutting down on Mansfield’s perimeter points. The Lady Eagles change up helped, not enough as the Lady Tigers ended the first quarter with a 13-3 lead.

Mansfield saw the same spread defense as they entered the second quarter and made an adjustment themselves. With Cossatot opening up their defense they left the paint wide open for Ambria Whitaker and Kylee Ward to pluck out points on the Lady Eagles. Defensively, the Lady Tigers were thieves and backboard bullies. Ward and Whittaker took defensive rebounds to the next level while stacking up blocked shots in the stat book. Fuller, Curry, Trinity Triska were all smooth as a criminal at times but had no problem getting down and dirty to get turnovers. This dominance on both sides of the ball gave the Lady Tigers a commanding 25-9 lead going into halftime.

Going into the third quarter, the Lady Tigers were short a key player as Whittaker could not make the second half. This was where Mansfield proved that they are more than just a few good players, they’re a good team. Laney “Sugar” Woods stepped up to the plate and didn’t disappoint. Woods defense was tighter than a pair of vice grips on the Cossatot players as the Lady Tigers pressed on with their domination of the game. Mansfield only allowed four points in the third quarter and cruised to a 35-23 victory to remain undefeated. Shelbie Fuller led the team in points racking up 11 points, three of which were 3-point shots. Kaylee Ward made her mark with 8 points in the game followed by Ambria Whittaker and Presley Curry who both lit up the score board with 6 points each. Trinity Triska and Kalie Lowery rounded out the scoring with two points each.

Mansfield’s celebration will be short lived though as the Lady Tigers will be right back at work as they host the Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows on Friday, December 17^th. Lavaca is one of the premiere programs in the 2A and are always a gritty opponent for the Lady Tigers. But all that glitters isn’t gold and the Lady Tigers will be up for the challenge.

The Mansfield JR Tigers loaded up and headed south on Tuesday, December 16^th for a game against the unknown. Their trip would land them at a school most of them didn’t know existed against a team that they knew nothing about. Once the game was over though, the Tigers knew exactly where the Cossitot River school district was and who the Eagles were as Mansfield fell from the skies in a 36-15 loss.

Right from the tip off, Cossatot cranked up some David Bowie and left the Tigers offense under pressure. The Eagles full court pressure quickly created heavy frustration for Mansfield’s players which added up to mental mistakes and equaled early foul trouble for the Tigers. Cossatot had their own foul issues as both teams combined for seven fouls in the first two minutes of the game. As both teams settled in, it became evident that defense was going to be key in this game as the first quarter ended with a mere 7-4 Cossatot lead.

 The Eagles weren’t an offensive juggernaut though, so the Tigers figured, hey, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Coach Brown began to rotate in his own pressure cookers onto the court. Ethan Martin, Cooper Edwards, Jeremy Strozier, and Aaron Person brought some physicality onto the hardwood as they fought for rebounds and loose balls at every turn. This defensive push kick started the Mansfield offense giving openings for Cannon Fisher, Winston Allison, and Cameron Pettis rack up some points. Even with the surge and an Ethan Martin layup at the buzzer, Mansfield went into halftime still down by three points in a 16-13.

Unfortunately for Mansfield, the first half was as good as it would get. The Tigers gassed out and had nothing left in the tank to finish the game. Mansfield. Cossatot’s defense telegraphed Mansfield’s passes and the turnover bug bit the Tigers by the tail. This gave the Eagles breakaway scores and momentum through the entire second half. The Tigers would only put up two points in the second half while the Eagles rolled up 20 points as the Tigers fell to Cossatot 36-15.

By the second half numbers it would seem that Mansfield just gave up, but that was not the case. Mansfield’s players hustled and fought every second until the bitter end. Every player that stepped foot on the court went all out. Cannon Fisher led the team in scoring with 7 points while Ethan Martin, Cameron Pettis, and Westin Allison each put up 2 points. Rounding out the scoring for Mansfield was Trevin Copeland who hit a nothing but net 3 pointer in the first half. The Tigers will get a weeks worth of rest over Christmas break and then jump back into action on January 6^th when the hit the road again to take on the County Line Indians.

by Lindsey Hester

The Hackett Hornets traveled to Paris on Tuesday, December 14th to take on the Eagles. Both varsity games were the kind of games basketball fans love to watch. Every athlete who touched the court was determined their team was going to come out on top, but as we know, only one team can win. And both the Lady Eagles and Eagles finished up strong adding another W to their records.

The Lady Eagles defeated the Lady Hornets 49-41 after 4 quarters of constant back and forth. These young ladies played with heart all night. The Lady Eagles went to the locker room at halftime with a 1 point lead over the Lady Hornets, but the Lady Hornets came back out strong and finished the 3rd quarter with a 33-27 lead heading in the final quarter. The Lady Eagles would not give up and were ready to fight for the win in the 4th quarter. Teonna Best led the Lady Hornets with 14 points and also had 3 steals. Mackenzie Mendenhall had 8 points and 10 rebounds. Lilly Slavens and Tori Blanton both had 6 points each. Alona Rothwell had 7 rebounds.

Not to be outdone, the boys came out ready to give fans the game they came to watch. The Eagles finished up the 1st quarter with a slight 10-9 lead over the Hornets, but they were all tied up with 16 points each going into halftime. Both teams came back from the half ready to play, finishing up the 3rd quarter with the Eagles ahead 25-24. A last-second shot in the 4th quarter by the Hornet’s Jake Fisher sent the game into overtime with a score of 31-31. The Eagles came out victorious with a 42-36 win in overtime. Ethan Slavens led the Hornets with 12 points, followed by Eli Slavens and Jake Fisher who had 10 each, and Cole Ketchum who had 2 points. The Hornets play Thursday at home against JC Westside.

In their second conference matchup up of the season, the Bulldogs would travel to Danville to face the Little Johns. Coming off an impressive win against the Paris Eagles last week, the Dogs looked to keep their slate clean in conference play. After barely getting past Danville last year, the Dogs came out ready to prove that they were not going to take any opponent lightly.

Waldron started their usual starting five which includes: Lidge Stinson, Ethan Mayberry, Trenton Hunt, “Fish” McConnell, and Camdon Holcomb. The Dogs got after it from the opening tip as they quickly went on a 6-0 with layups from McConnell, Hunt, and Stinson. Coach Atchley had the Dogs running a pick and roll which they ran to perfection. The Dogs were also fired up on the defensive side of the ball too as they were causing turnover after turnover in their zone defense. The Danville defense could not stay in front of the Dogs as they got into the lane with ease. Holcomb was able to add a lay-up off an offensive rebound to push the Dogs lead to 11-4. Wanting to keep his players fresh, Atchley substituted in a whole new group onto the court. This group consisted of Chris Lopez, Payton Justice, Peyton Lipham, Drew Owens, and Kason Moudy. This group applied a full-court press and ended the 1^st quarter with a 13-4 lead.

The new group started the 2^nd quarter and resumed their full-court pressure. After a layup from Lipham, the starting five checked by into the game. The Dogs were scorching hot from behind the arc as they were able to make four 3-pointers with two coming from McConnell, one from Stinson, and the other from Hunt. Danville had no answer for the Bulldogs in the 2^nd quarter as they went on a 20-2 run to end the half. The Dog’s defense did not allow any open looks, and they were forcing a lot of turnovers. Holcomb added three layups in the quarter to put the Dogs lead at 35-10 heading into the half.

Coming out of the half, the Dogs had cooled down from the field. They began to play man-to-man defense and began to allow some easy baskets for the Little Johns. This prompted Coach Atchley to bring the other group into the game. The new group was slow offensively too as the Dogs only scored 9 points in the 3^rd. After a charge taken by Lopez, the Dogs ran a beautiful play that ended with a Lipham layup to make the score 42-18. To end the quarter Forrest Efurd got a layup to fall which made the score 44-23.

To start the 4^th quarter the starting 5 checked back into the game. The Dogs were in cruise control as they had a lead of 20. Mayberry made a 3-point shot which made the score 50-25. After a lay-up by Holcomb, the Dogs checked 5 new players into the game which included: Jacob Daggs, Jaylen Matthews, Kason Davis, Steven Newman, and Tyler Wright. Wright got a layup to fall as the final buzzer sounded to end the game with the Dogs on top with a score of 57-37. The Dogs improved their record to 10-4 and 2-0 in conference play.

Camdon Holcomb was the leading scorer for the Dogs with 13 points and 7 rebounds. “Fish” McConnell added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Other scores included: Stinson with 11, Hunt with 7, and Lipham with 6.

The Dogs will travel to Cedarville on Thursday, December 16^th to take on the Pirates. Junior High girls will begin the action at 5:00 followed by Junior High boys, Senior High girls, and Senior High Boys.

The Tigers programs will see a slightly revised conference schedule in 2022.

With the AAA shuffling things around in football every two years, conference changes are nothing new. It’s almost like watching a Royal Rumble match where fans anticipate the next opponent to come storming through the curtains down to the ring. About mid-season, programs in the 3A-1 heard of the soon departure of the Lincoln Wolves to the 4A. This meant that the Tigers would see a new program in their upcoming 2022 schedules.  

The shuffling around landed the Tigers with a not so new “new” opponent. Ladies and gentlemen, the 3A-1 welcomes back………..the Booneville Bearcats. Mansfield last played Booneville in the 2018 and 2019 seasons before seeing Boonville moved out into the 3A-4. Booneville spent the past two years in the 3A-4 where they had a combined 12-0 record against conference opponents in route to back-to-back 3A-4 championships. Booneville has been and probably will always be a powerhouse in football no matter the conference or division, but that doesn’t mean teams in the 3A-1 will just lay down for them. Just like Booneville, teams in the 3A-1 are hardnosed blue collar football teams with a chip on their shoulder therefore the Bearcats should fit in well in the mix.

Other than the Lincoln moving out and the Bearcats moving in, the Tigers conference schedule will remain the same. The 3A-1 will consist of Booneville, Charleston, Cedarville, Hackett, Lavaca, Greenland, West Fork and Mansfield. All opponents will be worthy advisories for Mansfield and no game will be an automatic W or L on their calendar. That’s right, even with the addition of Booneville to an already loaded conference schedule for 2022, the Tigers do not foresee a game they can’t win.

Mansfield has relied on youth and inexperience over the past couple of years due to low numbers on their roster. Last season, Mansfield suited up eleven juniors and seven sophomores many of which garnered playing time on both sides of the ball. That youth has led up to what should be a senior heavy roster in 2022 many of whom have gained ample in game experience to boot. With their numbers growing, hungry and talented athletes eager to prove their worth.

Throughout a busy week of basketball, one thing was evident and that was the growth of the Jr Bulldogs. Adjusting to coaching changes and increased roles, the Jr High Bulldogs have been up-and-down during the early part of this season. “We had done a lot of positive things early this season but we still have to eliminate some of the same mistakes we are consistently making. This week has been good for us,” coach Zak Terwilliger said. The Dogs finished as the runner-ups in the annual Arvest Invitational hosted at the WAC every year.

On Monday the Bulldogs found themselves down big early to the Ozark Hillbillies by a score of 27-4. The momentum slowly started to change as Roky Avila and Aden Allen started to find comfort in the post. The Dogs ended up falling 50 to 39, but outscored the Hillbillies in the remaining three quarters and missed some crucial free throws in the 4th quarter that could have cut the lead into single digits.

Next up for the Dogs was the Tigers of Acorn. Acorn figures a young Jr High squad with several 8th graders being key contributors but was simply outmatched by the Bulldogs ability to pressure the basketball with Keegan Lynch, Cole Bailey, and Caden Hunt. That ball pressure, coupled with a heavy dose of Roky Avila, led to the Bulldogs knocking off the Tiger by a score of 52 to 39.

The final round of the Invitational matched up the Booneville Bearcats with Waldron. Booneville returns some key players from their junior high squad last year and have had a very good start to their season. It was a back and forth affair through the first 3 quarters until the Bulldogs finally got on top and remained there for the rest of the contest. More of the same for the Dogs as Avila and Allen established themselves on the blocks and Hunt and Lynch added some timely three point baskets. Driften Wagner brought some great on-ball defense to the floor and caused Booneville to never really get into an offense in the 4th. The Bulldogs captured the runner-up finish by a score of 49 to 31.

Ozark finished the Invitational at 3-0 to be crowned champions, with Koby Wilbanks from Ozark receiving the Josh Waddle MVP plaque. “I am always proud of my guys but really proud of their growth throughout the season and hope we continue to get better each game. Thank you to Shelley Buckles, and Arvest for their support of this tournament for many years and always being Bulldogs,” added Coach Terwilliger.