The games between Waldron and Mansfield are always full of rivalry and energy, but this year’s matchup meant just a little bit more. With Mansfield hiring Josh Brown, Waldron’s previous coach, Waldron fans were chomping at the bit to get to watch their team perform against their former coach. They packed Tiger Stadium and were loud from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
The Tigers began the game with a quick 7-0 run, and some early drama caused Waldron’s key player, Trenton Hunt, to sit for the rest of the half. The Dogs responded quickly though as Ethan Mayberry nailed a three-pointer and “Fish” Mcconnell drove to the bucket for a lay-in. Mansfield was hot from the three-point line in the first quarter as they hastily expanded their lead to 7-16, but the Bulldogs were able to pull it together as Lidge Stinson added back-to-back layups to stop the bleeding. Payton Justice managed to steal the ball and force a fast break which led to a “Fish” Mcconnell bucket to make the score 14-19, Tiger advantage, to end the quarter.
Mansfield started the second quarter still hot from three, which forced the Dogs to switch to a zone defense. The switch threw the Tigers off balance as they began to cool off from behind the arc. Kason Moudy came in for the Dogs and quickly added a layup making the score 21-30. Then the dogs began pounding the ball inside which caused the Tigers to get into foul trouble. This would lead to a 10-0 run by the Dogs as “Fish” Mcconnell put in two layups followed by a Camdon Holcomb and one to pull the dogs within two. As time was ticking down, Ethan Mayberry buried a three-pointer to give Waldron their first lead of the game and sent the Dogs into halftime up 31-30.
Waldron was not happy with the way its defense played in the first half, and you could tell it was an emphasis by Coach Atchley at halftime that he wanted his team to put more pressure on the ball handler. Starting the 3rd quarter, they did just that. The Dogs stuck to their zone defense and got extended which forced the Tigers to turn the ball over. Both teams were sluggish coming out of the break on offense, but the Dogs finally got it going as Lidge Stinson and Chris Lopez were able to add a layup each. Waldron played phenomenal defense the whole quarter as they only allowed 5 points. Drew Owens took a fantastic charge, and Camdon Holcomb blocked a shot which made the crowd erupt. As the 3rd quarter ended Waldron was in the lead 41-35.
The atmosphere in Tiger Stadium when the 4th quarter started was unreal. Both student sections were going at it as everyone was on their feet cheering and chanting for their team. The energy in the building was like none other. Waldron began the quarter full of energy on the defensive end as they forced a turnover which led to a put-back layup by Camdon Holcomb to expand to lead to 43-35. The Dogs began to full-court press the Tigers and gave up some easy buckets, but in the fast-paced action of the full-court press, Trenton Hunt was able to add two quick transition layups to make the score 50-42. Waldron then began to be patient on offense to wind down the clock as much as possible. This forced Mansfield to have to foul, and after poor free-throw shooting by the Dogs, the Tigers pulled within four. This proved to be too little too late though as the Bulldogs were able to run down the clock and travel home on Highway 71 with a 52-49 Win.
Camdon Holcomb and “Fish” Mcconnell each had a double double as Holcomb had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Mcconnell had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Stinson and Mayberry both had 6 points and Hunt and Owens both added 4.
Waldron will take on the Ozark Hillbillies on Monday, November 15 at the WAC. JV girls will begin to play at 5:00 followed by JV boys and then Sr girls followed by Sr boys.
