Basketball and cooking may not seem like two things to compare, but they are more similar than many think. You have to have the knowledge, the right ingredients, the proper quantities, and a good even temperature to be successful at cooking. The Mansfield SR Tigers basketball team has extremely knowledgeable coaches, talented ingredients, and quantities of that talent in the depth chart all set. The constant even temperature on the other hand is a work in progress. The Tigers have outscored their past three 2A opponents 161-152 showing they can be hot Hot HOT. Although the overall scoring looks to be scorching, the win/loss column is a tad bit chillier. A one-point loss to Hector and an eight-point loss to the defending 2A Champion Lavaca Golden Arrows at Lavaca leaves Mansfield with a 1-2 record in those three games. On Monday, December 19th the Tigers went out of the pot and straight into the frying pan as they hosted another high-ranked team in the Acorn Tigers.
The Tiger tussle started off in the favor of the Blue Tigers as Acron swished a three-point shot to score first. Mansfield’s Daniel Burton was quick to answer though and took the ball on ensuing possession for a layup to put the Tigers on the board. Burton wasn’t going to let Acorn off with just a warning though. Instead, he rang up eight consecutive points on the Blue Tigers to give Mansfield a 10-3 lead. Winston Allison stepped up for the Tigers defense, literally, as he took a charge from an Acorn player to give Mansfield the ball right back. Acorn was able to knock down a couple more three-pointers to stay in the game and keep Mansfield’s momentum at a low roar, but that didn’t last very long. Clint Stovall cranked the Tigers roar up to eleven with a pair of threes of his own to close out the first quarter with Mansfield leading Acorn 20-15.
Mansfield’s momentum continued early into the second quarter with Peyton Martin battling three Blue Tigers for a defensive rebound which turned into a Travis Toby three-point swish. Acorn would come back again though with a seven-point run on the Tigers to close the score to a one-point 23-22 lead for Mansfield. The Tiger teams continued to slug it out as both would trade taking the lead for most of the second quarter. Brothers, Samuel Burton and Daniel Burton had solid rebounds with put-back points, but Acorn hit another three-point shot to regain the lead. Peyton Martin was able to hit a pair of free throws off of a foul to put the Tigers ahead again, then Acorn….you guessed it….hit a three-point shot to take a 31-29 lead. Daniel Burton was able to force his way through defenders for a layup to get within two points of Acorn. With time running out in the half, Samuel Burton made a steal but couldn’t get the ball off before the buzzer as Mansfield went into halftime down 33-31.
The Tigers came out strong in the second half with Drew Elmore pulling down a powerful defensive rebound. Elmore then dished the ball to Clint Stovall who drove in for a board bucket to tie the game up at 33-33. Acorn did what Acorn does best and shot a three-pointer to regain the lead over Mansfield. You just can’t keep the Mansfield Tigers down though as Daniel Burton would power to the basket for a layup and drew the foul for a plus-one shot to tie the game up again. Fans watched with anticipation as the ping pong match went back and forth 36-36, 38-38, and 40-40. Daniel Burton again showed his athleticism with a cut under the basket to deliver a behind-the-back layup to retake the lead and send the Tiger faithful crazy. With a 42-40 Mansfield lead and the clocking winding down in the third quarter, Acorn’s sharpshooters struck again with a three-point shot to end the quarter with a 45-42 Blue Tiger lead over Mansfield.
Acorn couldn’t keep Mansfield at bay for three quarters, so they decided to play the clock instead of the scoreboard in the fourth and final quarter. The move created frustration fouls against Mansfield giving Acorn the idea that they could free-throw their way to victory. Winston Allison saw his opponent’s plan to pick away at the Tigers and shot a three-pointer to send Acorn back to the drawing boards. Then to the surprise of absolutely no one in the gym watching the game, Daniel Burton screamed downcourt for a layup and then followed that by hitting a three-pointer to regain the lead for Mansfield, 50-49. Burton, Drew Elmore, and Ryan Hayslip then went to work on defense by pulling down rebounds for the Tigers to score on the other end of the court.
Acorn continued to chip away at the Tigers by keeping it close and not letting Mansfeld get too hot. The back and forth continued…51-50…54-53…and then 55-55 which forced Acorn to call a time-out with 1:36 left in the game. The tension in the gym couldn’t be cut with a chainsaw, let alone a knife, as both sides knew this one was going to end in another thriller. Daniel Burton scored off of a foul and then again on a layup with 0:59 on the clock to stretch the Tigers out to a 58-55 lead. Unfortunately for Mansfield, Acorn scored on back-to-back layups to bring the game to a 61-58 Blue Tigers lead. With just 0:19 on the clock and Acorn with possession, Mansfield was forced to foul as the clock ran out. Acorn would hit two free throws off of the fouls before the final buzzer giving the Tigers 63-58 loss.
Mansfield has proven time and time again this season that they can hang with anyone at any time. The effort, talent, and coaching ingredients are all there, they just have to find that single pinch of seasoning and constant heat source to set them off. Once that happens though, the Tigers won’t only hang with teams, they’ll be tabled with an all-you-can-eat buffet of victories. Their next opportunity to find their winning recipe will be at the Bill Frye Invitational on December 28th-30th. The Tigers will face top-tier teams such as Waldron, Paris, Vian, Elkins, Mulberry, Two Rivers, and Hackett at the invitational.
