Its been a rocky basketball season so far for the Mansfield Jr High Tigers but don’t count them out of the game yet. Each time they step onto the court, the Tigers prove that through pure grit and dedication, they can overcome anything. On Tuesday, January 7, Mansfield took on the Elkins Elks. “The easiest way to explain the first quarter of the game,” said Coach Keith Stovall. “Was that we just couldn’t get out of our own way. We were stumbling over ourselves the entire quarter and finishing down 9-0 is no way to start a game.”
The second quarter showed the Tigers getting stronger as they “got the offense going to climb back into the game.” Creating some turnovers, Mansfield was able to hold Eklins to one point until there was 1:45 left in the first half of the game. “A couple of unforced turnovers allowed Elkins to get some easy layups and knocking out two three-pointers as a result of a breakdown in defensive coverage. This allowed the Elks to roll-off 10 points before halftime.”
“We won the second half of the game but could not overcome the deficit created in the 1st quarter. The second half defensively saw what I call “Hyperplay”. Overplaying your position so badly that when the ball swings you can’t recover forcing another player to cover. This left our interior vulnerable and Elkins was allowed to score the majority of their second-half points in the lane.”
“Our guys showed great effort as they continued to control the boards. Giving us numerous second-chance scoring opportunities. Offensively we have to get off to a faster start, and we have to get our heads up and see the openings in the defense and take advantage of it. Also, our primary ball handlers never got to the free-throw line because they were not attacking aggressively enough. Playing well in sports is not enough. We have to play complete games from start to finish.” The Jr Tigers finished the game with Elkins taking the win 43-35.
Leading the Tigers in scoring was Braxton Byers with 12 points. Drew Elmore with 10. Clint Stovall added six. Austin Quinalty netted three. And Tyler Turnipseed and Greyson Baggett finished with two each. Next on the list for the Tigers are the Lavaca Golden Arrows who they will face on Thursday, January 9 starting at 5 p.m.
