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By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Mansfield Lady Lions upset the Hartville Lady Eagles 52-50 Thursday night to become district champions for the first time in 25 years.
“Their fighting spirit is unbelievable,” said Mansfield head coach Gary Greene of his Lady Lions. “We could’ve laid down and quit and we didn’t.”
It came down to the wire in the Class 2 District 10 championship, despite the Lady Lions being down by as many as 17 in the second quarter. But Mansfield brought the game within nine to close the frame, and opened the third with three uncontested buckets and had tied the contest by the end of the quarter.
The teams battled back and forth for the lead in the final frame, and with 20 seconds left, Mansfield’s Logan Jones went to the line and sunk both free throws to tie the game. The Lady Lions received the ball again with seven seconds left, and as time expired, freshman Lauren Jones connected on a jumper to clinch the district title for Mansfield.
“In the last 20 seconds, we’re down two and I’ve got two freshmen, one that makes two free throws with 20 seconds and another that hits a shot as time expires, those are the plays that people that are going to remember,” said Coach Greene. “Maybe they won’t remember the times Madalyn Ivy played defense, the times Jada Henry had four guys hanging on her and still managed to get a shot in when we were trying to catch up, Chloe Lansdown fighting just to stay on the floor with four fouls and coming off the floor in tears thinking her career was over. All of that stuff is part of it. There’s not just one thing I’m grateful for…high school basketball is so much fun, and when you get a chance to do this, you’ve got to enjoy it because you don’t know when it will come around again. I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Hartville controlled the narrative in the first quarter with the scoring of Grace Culver, ending 13-8. They continued to dominate in the second, but momentum appeared to change after Chloe Lansdown connected on a three at the buzzer to bring the game within nine at 31-22.
“We got a gift at the end of the half when we banked one in and cut it to single digits,” said Coach Greene. “I told them, ‘Nobody here probably thinks we have a chance, but the only people who really have a say in that is you, so what do you say?’ They didn’t quit.”
In the third, Mansfield held Hartville to just five points while Lansdown, Raine Roy, and Logan Jones combined for 14 to tie the game.
“I’m still proud of what our team has accomplished this year,” said Hartville Coach Steve Sanders. “We won a lot of basketball games, we beat a lot of good teams, we won our conference, which is always a positive. Tonight Mansfield played really well and we just want to congratulate them and wish them nothing but the best going forward. But overall, we’re super proud of our kids. I love this group and I would take this group every single year if I could.”
The Lady Eagles won the Summit Conference championship for the third year in a row in 2020. Last year, Hartville finished third in the class 2 state championships. They will graduate four: Grace Culver, Aubrey Hardcastle, Bailey Martin, and Katie Still. They end their season 23-5.
“Even if we lose that game, you have to say how proud you are,” said Coach Greene. “They were down and they came out and kept fighting and fighting. I’m just happy they got the result they did. When will this happen again, we don’t know, but we enjoy tonight and tomorrow and then we’ll try to figure out how to beat the next team. I don’t know how we’ll do it, I just know we’ll compete.”
Mansfield is now 23-6 and will play the District 9 champion at Mountain Grove Wednesday.
Scoring for Hartville: Grace Culver, 25; Jadalyn Keith, 11; McKinley Sanders, 9; Aubrey Hardcastle, 3; Katherine Still, 2.
Scoring for Mansfield: Jada Henry, 12; Chloe Lansdown, 11; Raine Roy, 10; Lauren Jones, 7; Logan Jones, 5; Haley Tripp, 3; Madalyn Ivy, 2, Megan Langley, 2.
