On Thursday, December 19, the Mansfield 7th Grade Tigers traveled south to hit the hardwood against the Waldron Bulldogs. With both teams getting their first taste of the Mansfield vs Waldron Rivalry outside of Little League, the games were a primed to be a bar setting thriller. The afternoon started off with the Lady Tigers hitting the floor running as they snuffed out the Lady Bulldogs 25-6. Both teams started off relatively slow but the action soon became one-sided in Mansfield’s favor as they went into the half with a 17-0 lead. Shelby Fuller lead the Lady Tigers in scoring with seven points in the game followed closely by Ambria Whittaker who came through with six points of her own. Meghan Emery scored four points while Laney “Sugars” Woods, Maylei Rogers, Azlynn Nelson, and Trinity Triska tacked on two points each.
This wasn’t an all offensive game though. The Lady Tigers defense was a brick wall on the wooden floor. Mansfield could have been taken out in handcuffs if the police knew the Lady Tigers had 19 team steals in the game. The Lady Tigers also walked off with seven total rebounds in the game. One particular defensive play stood out as Whittaker threw caution to the wind and sacrificed her entire body to dive after a loose basketball as if she were going after a football fumble.
The Tigers 7th Grade boys game was like watching an old Nintendo controller as both squads went back and forth, up and down, and side to side. The boys on both teams were defensive machines as the halftime score was set at a mere 10-4 in the Tigers favor. After the half, the Tigers were able to put together the offensive pieces and make a run even Forrest Gump would be proud of. Austin Ruiz sent the Bulldogs out with their tails tucked as he led the team with 10 points in the game. Cameron Pettus rolled in second in scoring knocking out six points with some sweet rim music. And Jeremy Strozier, Brandon Raynor, and Winston Allison put their skills and thrills together to put a combined seven points in the game.
The Tigers defense continued their dominance only allowing Waldron to score 12 points after halftime. Mansfield had the Bulldogs heads spinning as they snatched 12 steals in the game while also coming down with five total rebounds off the backboard. When the dust settled, the Mansfield 7th Grade Tigers walked off the court with their chins up and chests out by defeating their rivals to the south 23-16 and remaining undefeated on the season. The 7th Grade Tigers will be back in court at home on January 13 at 4:30 p.m. against the Cedarville Pirates.
