The Mansfield Hornets lost a heartbreaker to the Foxboro Warriors on a buzzer-beating
basket at Foxboro last Friday night.
For basketball purists, this was not a pretty game with lots of turnovers, fouls and missed
shots. For rivalry aficionados, the intensity level of this game was up there with any
play-off or tournament game. Both teams wanted and needed this game badly. The crowd
was vociferous. And, the action was furious. Everything that a good high school rivalry
should have.
Mansfield got off to a 10-4 lead, but Foxboro pressure created several turnovers and
gave the Warriors a four-point lead at 14-10. From that point the teams essentially traded
baskets until half-time.
The second half was more of the same, with Foxboro building up to a seven point lead
with about 5 minutes left, but Mansfield behind some determined defense and the 3-point
shooting of Jimmy McGrath rallied to make it a one-point game. After Foxboro missed two
free throws Matt Handley picked up a tough offensive rebound in traffic and calmly
swished two free throws to give Mansfield a 52-51 lead. Foxboro, however, was able to
push the ball into the front court and get the hoop on a nifty inside pass and score as the
buzzer sounded.
A tough defeat for Mansfield certainly as it ended their modest two game winning streak,
but also dropped them to 2-5 in the Hockomock League with a Tuesday encounter with
the surprisingly tough Canton Bulldogs at the Albertini Gymnasium.
The Mansfield Hornets parlayed their victory in the Cardinal Spellman Christmas Classic into
strong first half against the Hockomock leading Franklin Panthers last night. Led by Andrew
Vinter and freshman Rodney Chance, the Hornets continuously beat the Panthers’ full court
press, resulting in a number of easy lay-ups, and a very tight 39-30 first half. With a little luck,
and fewer missed lay-ups, Mansfield could have easily led at the break.
Unfortunately for Mansfield the ease with which they beat the press forced Franklin into a man-
to-man half-court defense which thwarted Mansfield’s transition game, forced turnovers and
held the Hornets to only 11 second half points. On the positive side, Mansfield’s scrapping,
clawing pressing defense held the taller and deeper Panthers to only 25 second-half points.
It is a testimony to Mansfield’s transition game that nine players were able to score for
Mansfield. Equally, it was a demonstration of Franklin’s man-to-man defense that none of
those players scored in double figures. Mansfield was led by Shawn Kelley with nine points,
while leading scorer Jimmy McGrath was constantly harassed and held to seven points by a
Franklin team that was determined to not let McGrath loose to shoot.
It is clear that Mansfield has developed a high level of confidence with their tournament victory
and even taller, pressing teams like Franklin do not intimidate the Hornets. Mansfield retrns to
the hardwood on Friday, January 5th when they travel to Wrentham to face the King Phillip
Warriors in another Hockomock league clash.
The Mansfield Hornets took home their first Hockomock League victory with a wire-to-wire win
over the King Phillip Warriors at the KP Middle School. Using the small gym, along with their
speed and quickness, Mansfield pressured KP into numerous turnovers and gave themselves
some easy shots in taking a 31-11 halftime lead.
KP battled hard in the second half, holding Mansfield overall to a 19-19 draw, but a large part of
that was Coach Vaughan giving balanced playing time to all 11 players on the bench. Jimmy
McGrath led Mansfield with 19 points, including four three-pointers, but beyond that it was
balanced scoring and good solid D from the team that led to the 50-30 victory.
Mansfield, now 3-4 overall (1-4 league) returns to the Hockomock wars with a Tuesday
match-up against a very athletic and dangerous Stoughton squad.
The Mansfield Hornets ran their Hockomock League winning streak to two games with a
tough, gritty, hard-fought 65 – 50 victory over the Stoughton Black Knights last night at
the Albertini Gym. It is also four wins in their last five games for the Hornets.
Mansfield’s full-court, man-to-man pressure defense led to frequent Stoughton turnovers
as the Hornets lurked in the passing lanes to disrupt the Stoughton attack. The first half,
however, was played evenly with Mansfield holding a slim 28-24 lead, thanks to heads-up
last second basket by Drew Venter keyed by a heads-up assist from freshman Rodney
Chance.
Stoughton returned late to court for the start of the second half, but it was clear that the
Stoughton coaching staff had made some strong points as the Black Knights outscored
Mansfield 12-2 to start the half and take a 36-30 lead about six minutes into the second
half.
Mansfield’s comeback was initiated by a three-pointer from Tom Gilson (11 pts), followed
immediately by two three-pointers by Jimmy McGrath (24 pts) and the Mansfield defense
which continually blunted Stoughton offensive forays through turnovers, both steals and
dribbling violations.
Mansfield outscored Stoughton 35-14 over the last ten minutes. Stoughton tried to get
back in the game, but clutch free throws from Matt Alksninis and Rodney Chance shut
down any hopes Stoughton might have had.
Mansfield tries to make it three in a row and to get over the .500 mark on the season with
a game Friday night at Foxboro against the Warriors.