Superman has kryptonite. Green Lantern has the color yellow. Ironman has, well, low batteries. The point is, even the mightiest heroes have weaknesses. The Mansfield Lady Tigers have been a dominant force on the hardwoods only losing two games leading up to their Friday nights Homecoming game. In their two losses though, physicality was a defining weakness in the Lady Tigers downfalls. It didn’t take long to see that the Lady Tigers Homecoming opponents, JC Westside, definitely did their homework and were prepared to use the big guns to take down the mighty Mansfield Lady Tigers.
Both teams began banging into each other right from the opening jump ball. Mansfield had the height advantage early and was able to block the Lady Rebels shots, but JC Westside had the determination and attitude. This was quickly turning into a “foosketball” game as even the first points of the game came from a Natalie Allison free throw due to a foul. Allison was also able to put up a board bucket for a 3-0 lead, but the Lady Rebels closed the gap to one point by sinking two free throws and then called a time-out at the 5:24 mark. Alyson Edwards gave the Lady Tigers a little bit of breathing room with a powerful put-back and tacked on a free throw to boot. Now with the game sitting at 7-2 in Mansfield’s favor, the Lady Rebels again came back and this time sank a long range three-pointer forcing the Lady Tigers to call a time-out and regroup. Seven Sanderson subbed in after the short break and didn’t waste any time breaking the backboards with back-to-back rebounds and put-back buckets. With just a few seconds left in the first quarter, Kynslee Ward took a steal the full length of the court for a layup giving Mansfield a 14-5 lead at the buzzer.
After a rough and tumble first quarter, the Lady Tigers realized that JC Westside wanted a hardwood war. So, Mansfield suited up for battle and handed the game over to their very own battle horse, Alyson Edwards. Edwards fired off with rebounds and put-backs to draw fouls on the Lady Rebels. If the aggressive nature of JC Westside wasn’t evident on the court itself, all you had to do was look at the stat book. With 4:47 still left in the half, the Lady Rebels had already pounded their way to 9 team fouls which forced them to pull back the reigns on their hardnosed defense. Now the Lady Rebels defense had to play hesitant which was exactly what Mansfield’s offense wanted. Trinity Triska and Kynslee Ward both took steals down the court for breakaway layups giving the Lady Tigers good momentum for the first time in the game. JC Westside was able to knock down a three-point shot, but back-to-back board buckets by Alyson Edwards and a sweet assist from Natalie Allison to Trinity Triska for a layup nullified Westside’s attempt at getting back in the game. The foul bug spooked the Lay Rebels so much that they only committed one foul in the last 3 minutes of the half which allowed Mansfield to rack up 15 points as the teams headed to halftime with Mansfield leading 25-8.
The third quarter was all Mansfield. The Lady Tigers melted the lights on the scoreboard with 28 points while only allowing JC Westside to gain 5 points. Alyson Edward’s remained red hot coming out of the half with a pair of free throws and an assist to Harlie Fuller for a layup. The Lady Tigers “Sister-2-Sister” act of Kynslee and Kaylee Ward took center stage as the pair began dishing out jump shots, layups, steals, put-backs, and even assisting each other in points. JC Westside had no choice but to call a time-out with the score now sitting at 42-13 with 4:41 left in the quarter. The Lady Tigers continued their tremendous teamwork methods with steals that turned into assists and points for the remainder of the quarter. An Alyson Edwards steal was passed to Kynslee Ward who dumped the ball off to Natalie Allison for a layup showcased a Lady Tigers team unselfishly having fun. Mansfield kept it going with more assist points like Natalie Allison giving an assist to Kaylee Ward, Alyson Edwards making a sweet shovel pass to Kaylee Ward, and Harlie Fuller with a steal and bonus assist to Kynslee Ward. All of the passing left the Lady Rebels gassed and waving a white flag as the teams headed into the fourth quarter with Mansfield in charge of a commanding 53-13 lead.
JC Westside mounted a slight comeback in the fourth quarter outscoring the Lady Tigers 11-2, but the surge only delayed the inevitable as Mansfield rolled on to a 55-24 victory. The Homecoming victory puts Mansfield atop the 2A-4 Conference with an undefeated 5-0 record in the first half of conference play. But there will be no rest for the Lady Tigers if they plan to keep their conference prominence alive against another very physical team. Mansfield will next face a rough and tumble Hector Lady Wildcats team on January 17th. The Lady Tigers narrowly defeated Hector at home in early December and with their only one conference loss being to Mansfield, the Lady Wildcats definitely haven’t forgotten. Unlike the previous meeting though, Mansfield will travel to Hector as the two top teams battle for conference supremacy.
