Mansfield gets fourth in Cabool

The Mansfield Lions’ basketball team entered the Cabool Holiday Tournament undefeated and seemed ready to make a run at winning a championship for the second time this season.
After outscoring their first two opponents by a 190-116 margin, they would fall to both Liberty (Mountain View) and rival Norwood by a combined five total points to take fourth place.
In the opening round, the Lions crushed the host Bulldogs from Cabool, 92-51.
Mansfield led by just eight points at halftime before going on a 34-10 run in the third quarter to pull away after the Lions made five, 3-pointers. They finished the game hitting 12 shots from beyond the perimeter.
Jace Headrick scored 23 points; Haven Proetz added 22; both Kaden Young and Kellen Campbell had 13; Fisher Croney scored eight; Cole Whorton had five; both Brayden Stuart and Malachi Ussery had three points; and Owen Rhodes had two points.
In the second round, the Lions used a 34-point third quarter to push past Alton, 98-65.
Headrick scored 17 of his team-high 27 points in the first half. Campbell added 16 of his 24 points in the second half.
Meanwhile, Croney had 14; Ussery had 12; Young scored 10; Rhodes had five points; Proetz had four; and Stuart had two points.
In the semifinals, the Lions led the Eagles, 28-25, at halftime.
Rhodes and Young both hit big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but the Lions would fall in the end, 56-55.
Campbell scored 13; Croney had 12; Young added 11; Headrick scored six; Ussery five; Proetz four; Rhodes three; and Stuart with one point.
Mansfield also fell to Norwood in the third place game, 85-81. (The write-up on that game is in the Pirates’ article.)
Mansfield is now ranked No. 4 in Class 2 in the state rankings.