The Mansfield Hornets traveled to Stoughton where they posted a season high point total with a win
over the Black Knights 59-49. Mansfield got out of the gate fast and scored the first eight points of
the game using nice inside passing and playing tremendous defense. Brendan Boyle led the Hornets
with 23 points while Patrick Lambrecht pitched in 11 points of his own. But everyone got in on the
scoring tonight as all eight players recorded points including Travis Lasher with nine and Thomas
Savageau with four. Mike Perillo had the only three pointer of the evening for the Hornets.
Mansfield went into halftime enjoying a 35-20 lead, but the Black Knights galloped into the second
half with a 12-2 run and cut the lead to 37-32 after only four minutes of play. But Mansfield responded
when Matt Parrett, Kevin Otto and Jeff Boyle sparked a green themed rally that saw Mansfield run
their lead to 51-34 with seven minutes to go in the contest. The Black Knights were not ready to
throw in the towel on their home courtm, however, and with a couple of three pointers and a
tenacious press, momentum swung their way as they closed to within seven points. Coach
Langmead called timeout with 4:10 left and the score at 54-47. The time out did the trick and
Mansfield calmly took the court and jousted the Knights to the tune of 59-49, improving their record
to 8-6 with only two games to go in the season.
After losing a close contest to North Attleboro earlier in the week, Coach Langmead and Coach Hernandez wanted the Freshman
Hornets to come out fast and furious against the undefeated Eagles from Sharon. Starters Patrick Lambrecht, Jeff Boyle, Matt
Parrett, Travis Lasher and Brendan Boyle scored first in this game, but it was Sharon who swarmed over the Hornets by hitting
multiple three pointers early. The Hornets found themselves trailing 11-4 after five and half minutes of play. Defensive substitutes
Thomas Savageau, Dakota Cullen and Andrew Jenkins made their way into the game as the Hornets looked for a way to cool off
the hot outside shooters from Sharon and to work the ball inside to their big men on the offensive end of the court.
Lasher got hot while Cullen and Kevin Otto began to clean up on the boards underneath. Mansfield ended the half with an
impressive 15-2 run and went to the locker room with a 19-13 lead. The Hornets tenacious play caused Sharon to move from a
troublesome zone defense to a man to man formation in the second half. This match up suited the home team well and after three
minutes of second half play, Mansfield led comfortably 25-13.
The Eagles then went on a run of their own and quickly reeled off eight points to bring the score to 25-21 with 8:40 to go. Coach
Langmead, freely substituting to keep his team fresh, brought in Mike Perillo who calmly drained an important three point shot.
The Hornets found themselves up 34-21 with six minutes left. Kairell Williams was brought in to play big forward and used his size
advantage to keep the ball out of Sharon's hands during that second big Hornet run.
But Sharon wasn't going to roll over. Their outside shooting was back and Mansfield's lead was down to 34-31 with only 3:40 left in
the game. Lasher (team high 12 points) and Lambrecht stepped up and let their aggressive play lead the team's swarming
defense to slam the door on Sharon. The Hornets got their second win of the young season, 41-35. Sharon's first defeat was
exactly the gift Coach Langmead wanted to take into the holiday break as the Hornets (2-1) contemplate the challenge Franklin will
present to them on January 2.
The Franklin Panthers arrived in Mansfield with 15 freshmen players and they came to play. Starting the game for the Hornets was
Travis Lasher, Patrick Lambrecht, Matt Parrett, Brendan Boyle and Jeff Boyle who put their best feet forward and matched up with
Franklin man-to-man. The Panthers tenacious defense put them on top 5-2 after three and half minutes of play. Thomas
Savageau, Dakota Cullen and Kevin Otto were first off the bench and provided a little defense of their own. With 9:15 left, Mansfield
led 6-5. The teams continued to battle back and forth with Franklin calling a timeout with 3:13 left and a 11-9 lead. Kairell Williams
and Mike Perillo came off the bench and Perillo immediately took a hard charge for the team, but Franklin finished the half with an
11-0 run and lead 20-9 going into the locker room.
Coach Langmead regrouped during halftime and the second half began with same starting five. Lambrecht (5 points and 6
blocked shots) and Brendan Boyle (6 points) again took hard charges for the team and Mansfield edged to within four points with
seven minutes to go. Lasher (6 points) played unselfishly all night, Andrew Jenkins and Williams (a nice three pointer) provided
fresh legs in the home stretch, but the Panthers were too much for the Hornets tonight and went back to Franklin with a 35-25 win.
Coming off a close home win (43-41) in game one against Oliver Ames, Coach Langmead took the Freshman Hornets to North
Attleboro for game two of the young Hockomock season. Playing big inside, Patrick Lambrecht, Jeff Boyle and Brendan Boyle
controlled the boards in the first half as Mansfield jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. Outstanding defensive play by Travis Lasher,
Kevin Otto, Andrew Jenkins and Dakota Cullen stymied the Red Rocketeers for most of the first half as North got very few
opportunities at second chance shots. Guards Michael Perillo, Denzel Robinson and Matthew Parrett moved the ball around the
backcourt as they looked for opportunities to get the ball to their forwards Thomas Savageau and Kairell Williams. Effective ball
movement and and unselfish play allowed the Hornets to head into the locker room with an 18-10 first half lead.
The second half began much as the first half ended, but North began to take advantage of untimely Hornet turnovers and chipped
away at the lead. Robinson and Parrett poured in a pair of three point shots while Otto, Savageau and Lasher tossed in outside
shots of their own in the second half, but with 4:36 left in the game, the score was tied 29-29. Assistant Coach Hernandez worked
with boys during a timeout with 1:47 remaining and urged them to work the ball inside to Lambrecht or the Boyle brothers, where
North was running a zone defense. But North's zone neutralized the Hornet's size advantage and the Red Rocketeers continued to
pull away as Mansfield was unable to penetrate this defensive look effectively.
Losing a close second game of the season, 36-33, the Freshmen will regroup quickly and prepare for Sharon at home on Friday.
After a disappointing loss to Franklin earlier in the week, the Freshmen Hornets came out firing in Norfolk against King Philip.
Travis Lasher (5 points) got things started with a quick three point shot which set the tone for the rest of the game. Patrick
Lambrecht (18 points) anchored the middle as Mansfield saw yet another zone defense that tried in vain to neutralize Mansfield's
size advantage. Coach Langmead went to the bench early and often in tonight's game and quickly brought Kevin Otto (3 points) and
Dakota Cullen (3 rebounds) into the contest to give Jeff Boyle (14 points and a hot outside shot) and Lambrecht a chance to catch
their breath against a spirited KP team. With 4:14 to go in the first half, Mansfield enjoyed a 15-13 advantage. Andrew Jenkins (2
assists) and Mike Perillo (1 assist) joined the fray to provide speed and defense that allowed the Hornets to end the first half with a
slim, but satisfying, 19-18, lead.
Mansfield continued its brutal pace and reeled off 10 unanswered points in the first three and half minutes of the second half before
the KP coach called time out. Brendon Boyle (10 points) and Thomas Savageau (2 points) worked together with sharp passes to
move the ball inside for the kind of high percentage shots Coach Hernandez loves to see. Matt Parrett (2 points) was the game's
primary field general and did a great job directing the offensive attach that proved too much for the home team. Kairell Williams (1
assist) threw a blanket over his KP counterpart and didn't allow him near the basket all night.
In a game where Mansfield never trailed, the 54-37 win marked the team's first road victory and improved their record to 3-2.
The Freshmen Hornet basketball team is enjoying their first official win streak (2 in a row) after beating the Stoughton Black Knights
40 to 33 in Mansfield tonight. Coach Langmead juggled the starting lineup tonight which saw regulars Travis Lasher, Pat
Lambrecht and Matt Parrett joined by Kevin Otto and Thomas Savageau for the opening tip off. After five minutes of back and forth
play, Mansfield led 8 to 6. Dakota Cullen and Andrew Jenkins were first off the bench tonight and the Hornets continued their tough
defensive minded play and shut the Black Knights out for almost eight minutes in the middle of the first half. Mike Perillo sparked
the team at point guard in the final few minutes of the half and Mansfield led at the intermission, 22 to 17.
Jeff and Brandon Boyle made their first appearance of the game at the start of the second half and helped run off six quick points for
the Hornets as the team worked the ball inside and increased their lead to 28-17. Lambrecht (team high 14 points) and Cullen
played the role of twin towers both enjoying blocked shots and multiple rebounds as they cleaned up under the boards and helped
to stifle the Black Knight offense. Lasher had a nice three point shot with 7:45 left but then Stoughton had a mini run of their own to
close to within three points, 34-31 with 5:25 left. But that was as close as Stoughton would get tonight. Coach Langmead called
timeout to settle the boys down. That's just what the team needed as they closed the door on and improved their season's record
to 4-2
The Freshman Hornets travelled to Foxboro tonight and got off to a fast start against the Warriors. Foxboro was having trouble
putting their shots in the basket while Patrick Lambrecht cleaned up on the boards and blocked several shots. At one point,
Mansfield enjoyed a 14 point lead, but Foxboro began chipping away and by half time the score was 29-28 Mansfield.
The second half opened up just as quickly, but fortunes were reversed. Travis Lasher tossed in a couple of three pointers, but foul
trouble for Lambrecht and point guard Matt Parrett meant they saw more time on the sideline in the second half. With 10:36 left in
the game, Foxboro had turned a one point halftime deficit into a 41-35 lead. Despite calls going the other way all night, Mansfield
battled back to tie the game at 47 with 3:07 left. That's as close as the Hornets would get tonight as Foxboro pulled away for good
with a 12-0 run to win the game 59-47. Mansfield's record stands at 4-3 as the long weekend lies ahead.
The Freshman Hornets improved their record to 5-3 at the halfway point of the Hock season with a 46-26 win over
the Canton Bulldogs tonight. It took a few minutes for the Hornets to warm up tonight and after three minutes of
play, the Bulldogs led 3-2. Kevin Otto came in off the bench and scored two quick points and along with a big
effort on the boards by Kairell Williams, Mansfield pushed the lead to 8-5 with 7:48 to go in the half. Travis
Lasher (2 points) started a nice fast break to Jeff Boyle (5 points) who finished with a nice lay up to put the
Freshman on top 14-5 when the Canton coach called a time out at the 2:30 mark. Things cooled way down for
Mansfield, however, as Canton scored the next seven points and Coach Langmead's Hornets ended the half
with a slim 14-12 lead.
The second half started quickly for the Hornets as Matt Parret (5 points) turned three quick steals into points and
combined with a Thomas Savageau (5 points) three pointer pushed the lead to 30-18 with 9:00 left in the game.
The Hornets played tenacious defense, yet only committed four fouls in the game as Mike Perillo directed the
offense for much of the second half. Andrew Jenkins (6 points) and Brendon Boyle (6 points) combined with big
men Patrick Lambrecht (game high 13 points) and Dakota Cullen (2 points) to slam the door on the Bulldogs and
send them back to Canton with tails between their legs.
The Mansfield Hornets made the trip to Easton against a very strong Oliver Ames team and lost by a score of
68-39. Playing without big-man Patrick Lambrecht (out due to injury), the Hornets were down 10-8 after five
minutes of play. Travis Lasher (4 assists) fed Brendon Boyle (game and season high 25 points) many times early
on to keep the Hornets within striking distance of the Tigers. Dakota Cullen (3 points) played well in Lambrecht's
absence, but was eventually lost to injury early in the second half. OA went on a 29-5 run that left the Hornets
trailing 39-13 at half time.
OA continued its uptempo and aggresvie play in the second half and continued to exploit its new-found size
advantage. Even though the Hornets played much better after the break, the first half lead was too much to
overcome. Mansfield has a week to regroup before facing a tough North Attleboro team at home next
Down to ten players after center Dakota Cullen broke his foot (out for the season) in the Oliver Ames game last
week, Coach Langmead's approach to the Freshman games from here on out will provide challenges to everyone
on the team to pick up their game. Travis Lasher (21 points) wasted no time against the visiting Red Rocketeers
by pushing his teammates on both sides of the ball to step up to the challenge before them. The game was
played close by both squads and after 10 minutes of play, the score was tied 11-11. Matt Parrett (5 points) had a
nice three point shot as the half drew to a close, but North went into the locker rooms with a 19-16 lead.
The second half opened up quickly for the Hornets as Jeff Boyle's (14 points) outside shot began to light things
up, which helped free up Pat Lambrecht (9 points) underneath to clean up on the boards. North Attleboro's
coach was thrown out of the game after racking up two technical fouls, as Mansfield went on a 20-2 run in the first
six minutes of the second half and led 36-21. North would only get as close as 11 points down the stretch, as the
Hornets shot down the Red Rocketeers 53-42 tonight and improved their record to 6-4 on the season.