Mansfield ends slide with OT Homecoming victory
Mansfield’s Malachi Ussery gets the reverse layup against the Forsyth Panthers.
The Mansfield Lions were somehow still appearing in the latest Top-10 rankings for Class 2 in spite of dropping five games in a row.
That skid finally came to an end on Friday night when the Lions held off Forsyth, 73-68, in overtime for a big Homecoming victory over the Panthers.
It was a sluggish first quarter for the Lions as they were outscored, 12-9, before they went on a 20-9 run before halftime.
Mansfield’s Haven Proetz hit a pair of 3-pointers while Owen Rhodes had five points to lift the Lions to a six point lead at halftime.
Mansfield pushed the lead to nine in the third quarter as Jace Headrick scored seven points.
Forsyth rallied in the fourth quarter with a 22-13 run to send the game into overtime.
In the extra session, the Lions made all 12 of their free throws to help Mansfield pull away for the win.
Headrick had nine points and Kellen Campbell scored six points in Mansfield’s 15-point overtime.
Headrick would lead the Lions with 27 points; Campbell had 13; Fisher Croney added 12; Proetz scored 11; Rhodes had five; Cole Whorton scored three points; and Kaden Young had two points.
(Information on the Mansfield Lions’ loss to rival Hartville appears in the Eagles’ article in this issue.).