“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”. Every team in the history of sports has felt that exact quote from the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities. The Mansfield Lady Tigers were living it up in the best of times by handing out whippings left and right to start their season. The same would happen when Mansfield tipped off their final game of the first annual FCA Turkey Shoot versus the Cedarville Lady Pirates, right? Well, almost. The worst of times almost struck the Lady Tigers as Cedarville came in determined to knock Mansfield off their undefeated pedestal. But even with the best and worst times combined, Mansfield was still able to pull off a 47-32 victory to remain undefeated.
Mansfield started off the game slow which gave the Lady Pirates momentum early. Cedarville went step for step with the Lady Tigers for the first quarter as the time closed out with a 10-7 Mansfield lead. Although Mansfield had the lead, the Lady Tigers found out that Cedarville wasn’t going to just give them the win. The salty Lady Pirates continued their heavy pressure into the second quarter causing Mansfield to make mental mistakes and turnovers. The Lady Tigers uncharacteristically couldn’t seem to get their shots on target, which allowed Cedarville to stay in the game. Mansfield finally began to pick things up as Alyson Edward showed her diversity by battling her way to the boards for a layup then followed that up with a three-pointer from downtown. Senior Skylynn Harris then made back-to-back steals to swing the game’s energy toward Mansfield’s side. Alyson Edwards capitalized on Cedarville’s aggression by drawing fouls on the Lady Pirates which sent her to the free-throw line for a plus-two. Although the Lady Tigers weren’t feverish hot on the court, they were just warm enough to be able to stretch their lead out going into halftime with a 22-14 score.
The second half started with a smooth Kaylee Ward layup, but Cedarville answered with a bucket of their own. Both teams took turns creating turnovers with neither really gaining any ground on the other for the first couple of minutes of the third quarter. Cedarville was playing a smash mouth-in-your-face defense which seemed to frustrate the Lady Tigers. The frustration led to poor passing, missed shots, and eventually to fouls by Mansfield as Cedarville inched up closer and closer on the scoreboard. Thankfully Mansfield used their depth and talent to keep the game going their way. Natalie Allison kickstarted the Lady Tigers offense with a drive down court for an easy layup that set in motion a six-point run for Mansfield. Cedarville just wouldn’t sink though and scored the last points of the third quarter to keep the Tiger fans on the edge of their seats with Mansfield holding tight to a 34-30 lead.
Exhausted and frustrated going into the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers still saw nothing but a challenge to overcome. Cedarville wouldn’t back down though and Mansfield decided to buck up and fight back in the final quarter. The Lady Tigers caught fire with a Natalie Allison three-point shot that smoke through the net. Kaylee Ward stood up to the backboard planking Cedarville for a rebound and put back as Mansfield went on an 8-0 run on Cedarville in just a matter of two minutes. The court was burning Tiger Red forcing Cedarville to call a time-out to cool down. The cool-down may have been meant to stop the Lady Tigers momentum, but they instead came back out unfazed and still scorching. Trinity Triska stepped up big time as she went to war with the Lady Pirates to get rebounds and steals. Triska also was almost surgical with her precision decision-making as well as passing on offense. The Lady Pirates had put a net over Kynslee Ward for most of the game, but Ward found a hole in that net and burnt down court for an easy layup. Not to be outdone by her big sister, Kaylee Ward hooked in a shot to put points on the board too. The Lady Tigers had put together 12 points in the fourth quarter and held Cedarville to a single point as Cedarville again called a time-out with just 1:33 left in the game. Although the Lady Pirates gave the Lady Tigers a scare, Mansfield sealed the deal with an Alyson Edwards free throw to win 47-32.
“We found a way to get the win when it seemed like nothing was going our way,” said Head Coach Ethan Bowman. “I’ve always said we have to win games with our defense when the shots aren’t falling our way. I was proud that we were only up 34-30 in the third quarter and went 13-2 in the fourth quarter to finish and win the game. With that being said, we have to be better than what we showed last night. We have to be tougher around the rim both on offense and defense. We have to make better decisions on offense. The effort and toughness we showed as a collective group last night are not our standards, and they will be fixed. Going into Thanksgiving break 4-0 is good but there’s still room for growth. There’s a long season ahead of us and we want to be the best possible team we can be by our last game.”
Photo courtesy of Malinda Mizell
Alyson Edwards led the Lady Tigers on the scoreboard by racking up 20 points in the game. Freshman Kaylee Ward knocked down 15 points against Cedarville while Kynslee Ward and Natalie Allison combined for 11 points. The Lady Tigers completed the FCA Turkey Shoot going 2-0 against their opponents to bump their overall season record to 4-0. One thing is for sure though, even in the worst of times, the senior high Lady Tigers will not lie down to anyone. Mansfield will have to rest and recoup quickly though as they will go from the FCA Turkey Shoot Tournament and right into the Booneville Tournament from November 28th – December 3rd. It’ll be an out-of-the-skillet and into-the-fire situation for the Lady Tigers, but it’s hard to burn a team that’s already on fire.
