Norwood gets second in districts, beats Mansfield in semis

The Norwood Pirates’ basketball team was hoping the momentum of a Class 2, District 10 semifinals win over rival Mansfield in overtime would carry over into the championship game against No. 1 seed Hartville.
Unfortunately, outside of a couple of solid rallies, Norwood was unable end their season on top of a district with three state-ranked teams as they fell to the Eagles, 50-41.
Norwood ended their season with a 20-8 overall record. (Information from that contest appears in the Eagles’ article.)
Their bright spot of the tournament came in a fun back-and-forth affair with Mansfield in the semifinals where they overcame a Lions’ rally for a 62-56 overtime win.
In the extra session, Remington Hill assisted Pierce Lawson for a big 3-pointer and an early four-point lead.
With 1:30 remaining, Andrew Bradshaw converted a 3-point play to go up, 58-53.
Mansfield’s Malachi Ussery responded with a steal and making 1-of-2 free throws.
With 21.5 seconds remaining, Mansfield’s Kellen Campbell hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to three.
Norwood’s Laken Coatney would then make 3-of-4 free throws in a 10-second span before Lawson made a steal to seal the six-point win.
The game first started with Campbell nearly getting a full dunk for the Lions followed by Norwood’s 6-0 run. Campbell would score six points in the frame for the Lions and the game was tied at 10-10.
In the second quarter, Norwood’s Carder Kelly had a steal and scored a lay-up to put his team up four.
Bradshaw’s two free throws pushed the lead to six and the Pirates kept that edge at 27-21 entering halftime.
Norwood made 12-of-19 shots from the field in the first half and Kelly scored nine points in the second quarter.
Haven Proetz opened the second half with a 3-point play to cut the Pirates’ lead to 29-27.
While he scored eight points in the third, Bradshaw had seven of his own and the lead stayed at six entering the fourth.
The Pirates were up eight early in the final frame before the Lions’ Kaden Young hit a 3-po;inter to get the lead to just one point.
Campbell would make a pair of free throws with 2:33 let to give Mansfield the 47-46 lead.
Brady Vaughan put his team back in front with a score with one minute remaining.
Norwood then missed 3-of-4 free throws and Mansfield received new life.
With under three seconds left in the game, Young inbounded a pass to Fisher Croney in the paint and his lay-up tied the game just before the buzzer to send it into an extra session where the Pirates would seal the win.
Kelly, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, scored a team-high 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals; Coatney had 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal; Bradshaw 13 points, two steals, one rebound and one block; Brady Vaughan scored six points two steals, one rebound and one assist; Carson Vaughan had six points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal; Lawson had five points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals; and Hill added two points, four rebounds, one assist and one block.
Campbell led the Lions with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks; Croney scored 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists; Proetz had 10 points, two steals, one rebound and one assist; Young added 10 point,s three assists and two steals; Ussery had three points and three steals; and Cole Whorton had three points, two steals and one rebound.
In the first round, the Pirates went on a 27-7 third quarter run to pull away from Dora, 86-31.
In their 22-point opening quarter, Coatney scored six points.
He then added another eight points in the second to help the Pirates take a 41-20 halftime lead.
Hill made two, 3-pointers and scored nine points in the big third quarter while Kelly added eight points.
Carson Vaughan led the Norwood Pirates with seven in the fourth in the big win.
Coatney scored a team-high 19 points; Kelly 16; Hill 15; Lawson nine; Carson Vaughan seven; Bradshaw five Hunner Finch three; and Brady Vaughan two.