By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The No. 3 seed Mansfield Lady Lions pulled off their second upset in as many days to beat No. 1 seed Licking 49-36 and win the Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament title.
Lauren Jones led the Mansfield offensive assault with 13 points and was followed by Logan Jones with 12 and Macie Tate with 11.
It was the second straight Holiday tournament title for the Lions, a tournament that tested their talent and endurance.
“Four games in four days is really tough. I play about seven kids, sometimes eight, so four games in a row was a real test on their stamina,” said Mansfield head coach Gary Greene. “But you just have to find a way to not let being tired win. Today I felt like our kids did an unbelievable job of not giving in to the fatigue, or at least not to show it on the floor, to get the win.”
Mansfield (9-2) jumped out in front of Licking 15-9 through the first eight minutes of play and after outpointing the Lady Wildcats 10-9 in the second period held a 25-18 lead at the half.
Logan Jones paced the Lions’ first-half effort with 11 points. Keeping Licking close was Abbie Sullins who found her way to the bucket for points.
Licking made several runs at the Lions lead throughout the second half. But while Mansfield did bend, they wouldn’t break, outscoring Licking 12-11 in the third period and 12-7 in the fourth to get the 49-36 win.
“Champions like Licking don’t go down easy. The Ladycats have won a lot of games and won a lot of championships. After leading them in the district final last year they came back to beat us so we know only too well about their resolve,” said Greene. “So, I told our girls at the four-minute mark of the fourth period that the Cats weren’t just going to go away and to get the win they were going to have to finish the game off. Our girls responded and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
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Lauren Jones dropped in 11 points over the final two periods of play and Macie Tate added 8 in closing out the Ladycats. Keeping Licking close over the final two quarters was the Ladycats’ Kaida Cook with 11.
When it came time to passing out accolades for the Lions win a pumped up coach Greene was in no way short of finding names.
“Logan Jones, with two points last night, probably had the worst game of her career but she came back today, the way we knew she would, to lead us to the win with 13. Lauren Jones had an unbelievable tournament, she made big shot after big shot and was the tournament MVP,” said the Lion boss. “Macie Tate hit three 3’s via her 11-point night, Harleigh Hodges was amazing inside rebounding and changing shots and Chloe Lemons was great on the defensive side of the ball. I could go on all night about the way everybody stepped up to play big for us.”
The Lady Lions were proud of their effort too.
“We had great chemistry on the floor tonight. And no matter how difficult things may have gotten for us we were always picking each other up,” said Hodges. “This one also felt good because it gave us a bit of redemption for our district championship loss to them last year.”
“This was an amazing win for us. It’s been a long hard week so being able to finish the tournament off today with a championship win over Licking feels great,” said tournament MVP Lauren Jones. “I just love all of my teammates and I’m so proud of us all. We all came together at the right time, and anytime you can do that it’s a great win.”
Mansfield Lions Scoresheet: Lauren Jones 13, Logan Jones 12, Macie Tate 11, Harleigh Hodges 5, Chloe Lemons- Haven Tripp 3, and Ellie Williams 2.
Licking Ladycats Scoresheet: Kaida Cook 15, Abbie Sullins 9, Allie Hock 6, Hannah Medlock 5 and Kinley Keaton 1.
All Tournament Team
Kaytlyn Drake- Norwood
Kerrigan Guerin- Chadwick
Raeleigh Little- Chadwick
Logan Jones- Mansfield
Lauren Jones- Mansfield
Hannah Medlock- Licking
Abbie Sullins- Licking
