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Tygers Must Execute

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          Mansfield Senior meets Oregon Clay in a division III district semifinal at Ontario High School on Thursday night.

          They advanced to the district level with a (65-30) whipping of Norwalk at home last Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says it was a good way to get the postseason started and they did play pretty well.  “It was a great opportunity for us to play at home for one last time for our guys coming off for two week break to kind of knock off some of the dust and knock out any issues that we may have.  I thought our guys after the first quarter put together three good quarters of basketball,  Played well of the defensive end and played hard, defended well, rebounded well and eventually shot it pretty well the second half.  So we were sectional champions and now it's time to move on to the districts,” said Sykes.

          The Tygers (16-7) will play Clay (17-6) on Thursday night at Balogh Court in Ontario.  Clay edged Sandusky (50-46) last Friday in a sectional final.

          Sykes says they are balanced and tough to guard.  “They’re long, they defend really well, they're really physical and they shoot it really well.  So, it's just going to be a tough task for us.  We're going to have to defend at a high level, we're going to have to guard the post, which is one of our weaknesses and we're going to have to defend inside in the pain and also guard the three-point line,” he told Swankonsports.com, “The team that imposes their style on the game is the team that will win.  They do want to play a more deliberate style of basketball.  A little slower. They will walk the ball up the floor if you allow them to.  They have got some really nice sets that they run.  If we allow them to run them it'll be a long night for us.  So, we're going to have to make sure we try to push the tempo.  We'll have to pressure the basketball and try to do everything we can to get them out of the flow of their offense.”

          Yes, Mansfield Senior would like a quick tempo, but Sykes says when it’s not there they must be able to execute in the half court too.  “Want to want to play our style of basketball certainly, but on the flip side, we do recognize the tournament basketball is going to slow down and we're going to have to execute in the half court as well.  So, it's going to have to be a good mix of both, which is transition basketball and then when the game does slow down, and we're in the half court, we’re going to have to execute our half court offenses,” he said.

Published 3/05/26

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Tygers have to Play Four Quarters

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          Mansfield Senior plays at home against Norwalk on Friday night in a sectional final in division III.

          The Tygers have not played in two weeks.  Their last game was February 13, a (69-61) win over Madison to earn a piece of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says he hopes they come out ready to play.  “We'll know (Friday) early on in the game whether us coaches knew what we were doing over this break or not.  We really started to I think after Wednesday's practice.  I really felt like okay it's time to get back to playing because I felt like we were all kind of getting on each other’s nerves a little bit.  Almost a preseason vibe where we've been beating up on each other for the last couple of weeks.  I think our guys are locked in and ready to get a new opponent on the floor.  Certainly, excited about the opportunity to win sectional championship on our home court,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (15-7), #3 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has Norwalk (1-21) on Friday night.

          It has not been a good season for the Truckers, but Sykes says they are not a team that’s just going to mail it in.  “I know those guys are going to play hard and they're certainly not going to come out just lay down and let us do what we want to do.  I know they're probably going to throw them kitchen sink out as defensively.  Probably mix it up between some different zone defenses and different man-to-man type defenses.  So, we've got to be ready to go.  It’s tournament time, we know that we're going to get Norwalk’s best shot, their best game.  So, we have got to make sure we're locked in and focused and ready to give our best game in return,” he said.

          In tournament games, the start of the game is important, but Sykes says if they get a good start, they must sustain that momentum.  “I think we've had a good couple of weeks of practice, so I really feel like we’re going to be focused and going to be ready and in turn I'll feel like whenever we've had good weeks of practice and whenever we've been locked in and engaged and ready to play the game we've gotten off to solid starts,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “(Friday) that's not really my concern.  I feel like our guys are starting to get anxious and they're really ready to play.  So, I think we'll get off to a good start.  I think we have to maintain and sustain that good start.  So, if we can get off to a good start let's not take our foot off the gas pedal.  Let's play a full 32 minutes of good quality Tyger basketball.”

Published 2/27/26

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Tygers Focus is on Them

          Mansfield Senior still has an outside shot and a piece of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title.

          Three things to happen Friday night, the Tygers must beat archrival Madison, New Philadelphia would need to beat Dover, and Ashland would have to lose at Lexington.  A four way tie would result with Senior High, Dover, New Philly and the Arrows all having 10-4 conference records.

          From Mansfield Senior’s perspective the first thing that has to happen is they have to win and coach Marquis Sykes says they have to be locked in.  “Right now, our focus is on the Tygers.  We’re locked in on what we need to do to be the best basketball team we can be.  We are playing a rival, so little added motivation there.  It’s our seniors last opportunity to improve and to play over on Esley Lane.  So, no shortage of motivation for us.  We will be locked in and ready to give our best performance,” said Sykes.

          The first time Mansfield Senior (13-7,9-4) played Madison (7-11,3-9), the Tygers hammered the Rams (58-15) on December 23.

          Sykes says they have to sort of forget about that.  “We had that discussion (Wednesday) with the players.  I think the guys recognized that Madison was completely different team from the first time around.  They are playing a lot better basketball at this point of the season.  We know that we're going to get their best shot on their home court, so we have to make sure that we come out and we give our best shot as well and continue to play the right way and continue to play good basketball going into the tournament,” he said.

          Now, the Tygers do not play next week, so there is going to be a long layoff between the Madison game and the tournament.

          Sykes says they have to try and do some different things.  “We've already put in a lot of work to make adjustments to our schedule over the next couple weeks.  So, we had to get a little clever and come up with some things so that we can keep the guy's attention and also so that I'll drive myself crazy,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We got a little clever.  We came up with some things and we're doing some different stuff as far as off the floor and we'll continue to grind on the floor and have as much fun as we possibly can rolling into the tournament.”

Published 2/12/26

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Mansfield Senior Wants a Chance

          Mansfield Senior will be a Dover for a game of significance in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night.

          The Tygers are two games behind Dover in the “OCC” standings and must have win or they are eliminated from title contention.

          In the “OCC” last week they lost (97-93) in triple OT to Ashland on Tuesday and beat Wooster (68-59) on Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they had to deal with a lot of things last week.  “It was kind of a weird week for us.  We played our games Friday and Saturday without two starters.  On the flip side of that, we saw some young guys come in and play some valuable minutes and that's going to help our rotation.  Now we saw what some guys can do in meaningful minutes and when they get the opportunity to actually play some extended minutes.  So, it’s going to help our rotation out.  This week we were able to get back to normal with our normal crew.  So, we feel like we're better, we're one player deeper now.  So, all in all last week wasn't lost even though we had a couple losses still feel like we're trending in the right direction.  I still feel like we're playing on the right way just came up short a couple of games,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (12-7,8-4), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at Dover (11-7,9-2) on Friday night.  Dover beat Madison (46-34) in a league game last Friday.

          Sykes says this is a big game for both teams.  “They're in first place for a reason.  They're well coached, they run this stuff really well, they're really good defensive team and certainly they play well at home.  So, we know this is going to be a really big for both teams.  They're playing to stay in first place and we're playing to have a punchers chance at still winning the title and also playing for seeding and playing just to be better and continue to trend in the right direction.  So, certainly thankful to have a meaningful game this week because it's been a really solid week in practice for us and we know it's going to be a tough one on Friday,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior won the first game (62-55) on January 9.

          Sykes says their goal is to make Dover feel uncomfortable, but yet be patient when they have the ball.  “We certainly want to try to speed them up and not allow them to do all of the things that they practice, but on the flip side offensively with what we can't do is have a good defensive possession for 40, 45 seconds and then run down the court one pass and you shoot in five seconds,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “In fact that would totally defeat the purpose of having a good quality defensive possession for 45 seconds.  So, we want to make sure that offensively we're disciplined.  I want to make sure that we are not allowing them to just run stuff that they practice.  We want to make sure they're uncomfortable.  So, if we can do those things we feel like we'll have at least a shot to win the game, but if we're allowing them to just run their offense, an taking quick shots on the offense, then it'll be a long night for us.”

Published 2/05/26

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Senior High Must Win

          Mansfield Senior is in a must win situation as they host the Ashland Arrows in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Tuesday night, weather permitting.

          They are a game behind both Arrows and Dover with four games in play.

          They are coming off a good weekend, which included a (74-54) win over West Holmes in conference play last Friday and a (85-80) win over Sandusky in non-conference game Saturday afternoon.

          Coach Marquis Sykes was pleased.  “We had a good weekend of basketball.  We were able to get the conference win at home and were able to go on the road and knock off one of our non conference rivals in Sandusky. I think it has been since 2018 since we won in Sandusky.  So, that was certainly a big deal for us.  A big win for our program.  Feels like we're trending in the right direction,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (11-5,7-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches in the large school division, hosts Ashland (9-6,8-2) on Friday night.  The Arrows beat Wooster (62-43) on Friday in a league game.

          Ashland won the first meeting (70-65) at Arrow Arena on December 19.

          Sykes says Ashland just has a lot of guys that are very good shooters.  “They’re shooting the lights out right now.  I've been watching film on them all day and all weekend since we've been kind of snowed in.  We have to find a way to take away the three-point shot and lower that field goal percentage because they're just shooting the ball really well right now.  They're playing really well together on both ends of the floor.  Probably all in all, arguably playing the best in our league right now.  So, we’re got a tough task ahead of us.  We’ll have to make some plays on both ends of the floor in order to come out with a win,” said Sykes.

          Sykes says the Arrows can take the ball to the basket, but you must guard the three point line first and foremost.  “At all times there's always four guys on the floor that when the have some space will take the shot, so we are aware of that and certainly going to be one of our primary keys is to defend the three-point line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “At the same time, they've got guys that can do both.  That are more than capable of shooting the three and also capable of driving to the basket and being a playmaker.  So, we are just going to have to play good, solid defense, but upmost importance is making sure those three points shots are contested and you're not allowing them to have open the looks at the three.”

          Sykes says in terms of the “OCC” title, they have to beat Ashland on Tuesday night.  “There is no other way to word it. If we want to win a conference championship this is a game that we have to win.  So, can't run from it, can't hide from it, it's kind of is the situation that we put ourselves in.  So, we're going to have to come out and play good basketball, so that we can put ourselves in the position to win a conference championship,” he said.

Published 1/27/26

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Mansfield Senior Needs Focus

          Mansfield Senior, just a game back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will put out the welcome mat at Pete Henry Gym for the West Holmes Knights in “OCC” action.

          The Tygers (9-5,6-3) thrashed Lexington (70-42) in a conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says after three straight losses they got back to doing good things.  “We were pleased with our effort.  I felt like we were a lot more engaged defensively.  A lot more consistent throughout the game and that's really what we've been looking for.  We haven't pieced together four good quarters of basketball all season and we felt like the Lexington that game was a step in the right direction,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Certainly not fully where we want to be, but a step in the right direction.  The guys played hard and played with a lot of energy and effort. We felt like we shared the basketball.  Started doing some of the things that we've been talking about.  So, we're trending in the right direction.  We just have got to stay focused, stay locked in and make sure we're getting better every week.”

          West Holmes (4-9,1-7) lost (70-25) to New Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

          Mansfield Senior torched the Knight in the first meeting (89-55) on December 5.

          Sykes says he sees improvement. “They are certainly better.  They're definitely getting better.  I have a lot respect for those guys.  They're going to come out and play hard.  They're going to make us earn everything that we get, so we have to be ready.  We have to be focused in there to make sure we take care of our home court.  It’s a conference game and mathematically we're still in it to be champion.  So, we have got to treat this game like a championship game,” he said.

          Trailing both Ashland and Dover by a game, Sykes says they have to take these “OCC” games one at a time.  “We're focused on the next team up and that team is West Holmes and they've improved.  They've got a few wins here lately and they've played in a lot of close ball games lately.  So, we expect those guys to come in here and give us their best shot.  For our guys, we are going to have to be laser focused and make sure that you come out and continue to trend in the right direction and start playing good consistent basketball,” said Sykes.

Published 1/23/26

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Mansfield Senior Wants to Make Quakers Uncomfortable

          Mansfield Senior makes the trip to New Philadelphia to meet the Quakers on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.

          It’s a big game for both as Mansfield Senior trails “OCC” leader Dover by one and New Philadelphia is two back.

          The Tygers (8-4,5-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, got closer last week when they beat Dover (62-55) on Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they were focused on what they had to do to win.  “We took care of business on our home court against just a really good Dover opponent.  For us, it’s really all about taking care of our own business.  We have to take things game by game and focus and lock in on whoever our next opponent is and that's really what we've been talking a lot about.  Making sure we're just ready for whoever is our next opponent.  This week it’s New Philadelphia, so the guys are kind of locked in on them now.  We're ready to see if we can remain in conference championship contention,” said Sykes.

          New Philadelphia (8-4,4-3) beat Lexington (52-37) in an “OCC” game last Friday.  They are still in a must win situation two behind their archrivals.

          The Tygers won the first game (62-52) on December 12 at Pete Hery Gym.

          Sykes knows they need to play really well to do it again.  “We expect nothing less but a highly competitive game.  They play really well at home.  We expect them to shoot better and just be more comfortable overall.  So, it's going to take our “A” game, our best game, to come out with the win in their place.  It always has and probably always will,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I think our guys know that, they understand it.  The coaching staff certainly knows and understands that.  We have got nothing but respect for their program.  We know coach (Zach) Ross will have those guys ready to play.”

          Tempo is always a factor in any game involving the Tygers.  Sykes says they want to take New Philadelphia out of their game.  “That’s always a key for us to make our opponent uncomfortable and try to speed them up and just not allow them to do the things that they practice every day.  That’s always a key for us.  If we can make them uncomfortable we feel like we have a shot at winning the game, but if we them to just play on at the pace that they want to play and pass the ball where they want to pass it and dribble the way they want to dribble we will be in for a long night,” he said.

Published 1/15/26

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Tygers Must Run

          It will be a big game on Friday night for the Mansfield Senior Tygers as they host first place Dover in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.

          Right now, they trail the Crimson Tornades by two games and they cannot afford another league loss at this point in the season.

          They went to Wooster and smoked the Generals (76-54) in an “OCC” game last Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes felt it was a step in the right direction, but there are still a lot more steps to take.  “We had a solid showing at Wooster.  I felt like the guys were semi locked in defensively, not quite where we need to be yet, but I felt like we've gotten better since our last outing.  So, happy to win a conference game on the road.  Happy to feel like we improved a little bit on the defensive end.  It's always helpful when you get a guy to get the hot hand, get it going, and score 37 points,” he said.

          Sophomore Kaylen Brooks, a Youngstown State signee, had 37 against Wooster.  He had 40 the game before against Genoa Christian,’

          Mansfield Senior (7-2,4-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Dover (8-3,6-0), #4 in our poll, in an “OCC” game on Friday.  Dover beat Madison (52-36) in their “OCC” game on Friday, but lost a couple of non-conference games to Massillon Perry (53-41) and Indian Valley (61-56) last week.

          Sykes says the Tornadoes are going to be a team that is disciplined and knows how to win.  “They the disciplined, well coached and they play hard.  Certainly going to be a big test for us.  Our plan is really just to do whatever we can to take care of our homecourt.  Now, we know it's going to be a fight.  We certainly know they’re not going to come in here and lay down and let us win the ball game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're going to have to do what we do defensively.  Offensively, we're going to have to make sure we make some shots and share the basketball and play up to our standards of Tyger basketball.”

          Sykes says tempo is going to be a key factor in the game.  “A key for us is certainly going to do what we can to try to turn them over and to try to speed them up, but on the flip side we know that we can't just come down and take quick shots.  One pass and a shot or no pass and a shot.  That'll play right in into their hands and what they're looking to do.  So, we have to have some patience offensively, but on the flip side do what we can to turn them over and do what we can to speed the game up and give the tempo going at a faster rate,” said Sykes.

Published 1/07/26

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Mansfield Senior Looking for Consistency

          Mansfield Senior will be over at Wooster for a meeting with the Generals in play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night.

          With Dover still unbeaten in the league, and the Tygers two back, a win is a must for them.

          Last week, the dominated rival Madison (58-15) in an “OCC” game and outscored Genoa Christian (79-68) in a showcase game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they played good, but not good enough.  “We got two wins.  We certainly didn't feel like we played our best basketball, but certainly happy to get two wins.  One against our rival and one in a showcase situation at Harvest Prep.  So, happy to get a couple wins over break, which for us are always hard to come by.  Every year when we kind of get out of our rhythm and out of our practice rhythm and things just change up over break, so we're happy to get two wins,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We saw some good things.  Defensively against Madison we felt like ourselves defensively just didn't feel like ourselves offensively.  Against Genoa Christian felt like ourselves offensively, but not ourselves defensively.  So, really we're just trying to put all of the phases of the game together right now.  We feel like once we do that, we think we'll be a pretty good basketball team.  It’s just a matter of consistency for us and continuing to try to get better every day.”

          Sykes says that consistency is something they have been looking for, but not finding.  “For us it’s has been hard to come by this season, but we've shown flashes.  We've had a lot of moments.  We’ve had moments in every game where we felt like we were getting to the point where we could be consistent, but just not there yet.  I do feel like it's only a matter of time as long as we stay on the grind.  I feel like it's just a matter of time because the guys have been putting in the work.  They're receptive and I think we're only a little bit away from putting it all together and really being that team that I feel like we could be,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (6-2,3-2), #4 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the large school division, plays at Wooster (4-5,2-3) on Friday night.  The Generals had won three in a row before a (64-51) loss to Copley on Tuesday night.

          Sykes knows they are dangerous.  “They have gotten better and better as the season has gone on.  They've got a young group, so you would expect for them to start slow, but they picked it up and turned it up over these last couple of weeks.  We expect a major challenge as it’s always a tough place to play.  We know that those guys would be ready for the Tygers to come to town and we're hoping for consistency on both ends of the floor.  Just guys giving all our effort on the defensive end and then on the offensive end we really want to start putting it all together sharing the basketball and being the best offensive team that we could possibly be,” said Sykes.

Published 12/31/25

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Tygers Gotta Win

          Mansfield Senior hosts rival Madison in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game the Tygers almost have to have on Tuesday night.

          After winning their first four games, Senior High lost (63-61) to Lexington last Tuesday and (70-65) to Ashland on Friday night, both in “OCC” games.  They are two games behind Dover.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they are not playing will at either end of the floor.  “We're just not playing Tyger basketball right now.  Didn’t do enough defensively, left a lot points on the board by not making layups and not making free throws.  So, really just all around disappointing game for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We didn't defend like we're supposed to and offensively just didn't execute that we were supposed to.  So, have got a great opportunity to bounce back (Tuesday) night against our rival at home, conference game, so our guys should be motivated and ready to roll.”

          This will be just the Tygers second home game and Sykes hopes that makes them feel more comfortable.  “It is the second home game.  Certainly, feels good to be at home and hopefully we'll be able to shoot a higher percentage at home and feel a lot more comfortable and have a lot more support.  So, we'll certainly be ready.  This is our rival game and it can go either way.  I know coach (Davey) Hipp will have those guys playing hard and we certainly have to be ready,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (4-2,2-2) is at home for Madison (0-4,0-3) on Tuesday night.  The Rams last played a week ago and lost (66-43) to Ashland in conference play.

          Sykes says they know they will get Madison’s best on Tuesday.  “They are a scrappy group and we know they're going to play hard, they potentially can shoot it well.  They've been running this stuff and it feels like they've gotten better each game that they played.  So, like I said in a rivalry game you throw the records out of the window and then you go out there and man against man and see who comes out the best,” said Sykes.

Published 12/23/25

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Tygers Need to Get Back

          Mansfield Senior plays at Ashland in an important game for both in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night.

          Both trail conference leader Dover by a game.

          The Tygers (4-1,1-1) lost a heartbreaker at Lexington (63-61) on Tuesday night in “OCC” play.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they really didn’t play well at either end.  “We were disappointed with the way we played Tuesday.  Offensively, we felt like we weren’t sharing the ball freely.  I felt like we got into a bit of a hero mode offensively.  Then defensively we just felt like we didn't play to our standard.  Gave up too many straight line drives to the basket.  Just didn't defend up to our standards.  So, we had to do some soul searching and get back to the drawing board and then get back to doing the things that got us some success our first four games.  Hopefully we'll see Friday night the difference from Tuesday to Friday,” said Sykes.

          Ashland (2-3,2-1) beat Mansfield Madison (66-43) on Tuesday night in an “OCC” game.

          Sykes says their assignment to defend an Ashland offense that is hard to guard.  “Ashland is always a tough opponent, especially at their place.  They're shooting the basketball really well, especially their starting backcourt.  They shoot the lights out.  No conscious from 23 feet, 24 feet contested, uncontested.  So, we certainly got our hands full.  We are going to have to defend at a high level.  We’ll have to guard the three point line.  We're going to have to defend their offense in transition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Just overall have to play a really solid defensive game.  On the flip side, we’re going to make sure we're doing the things that we need to do offensively to share the basketball and then to get ourselves the best available shots.  We have got our hands full.  We certainly know we're in for a dog fight anytime we go over to Ashland.  I think our guys are ready to play and ready to be focused on our game plan.”

          The “OCC” is going to be competitive and the winner might have three losses or even four, but Sykes says losing two in a row would be troublesome.  “Certainly, this is a great opportunity for us to really see where we are at and see how we bounce back.  See how we deal with adversity and see how we manage and deal with our confidence being a little shaken.  So, certainly a perfect opportunity for us to kind of get back on the right track and learn and grow from all of the mistakes that we made in our conference game this past Tuesday,” he said.

Published 12/19/25

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Tygers Have to Control Tempo

          Mansfield Senior plays host to New Philadelphia in key early season game between contenders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          Tuesday night, the Tygers belted Wooster Triway (83-45) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they did a lot of good things.  “We were happy with our results to Tuesday.  Triway, that's a good basketball club.  It was early the season for them.  They played a few playoff football games, so they’re not in the kind of shape that they'll be in by mid season.  So, we got a different version of that team than other teams will see towards the end of the year.  We were pleased with our effort and with our energy.  I wanted to keep the game simple for our guys.  We talked a lot about making free throws, making our layups and shooting a high percentage on our open looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Offensively our guys did that.  On defense I thought we were able to apply some pressure to the basketball in the full and the half court and able to keep their offense a little bit stagnant and out of their rhythm with pressure.  We rebounded just enough.  So, I was pleased with our effort and energy.  We have still got some things to work on.  So, hopefully we can just continue to grow and build and get better at all of the little things.  That's what it's going to be about for us it's just the attention to detail and focusing on some of the little things.”

          Mansfield Senior (3-0,1-0) will be at home for New Philadelphia (2-0,1-0) on Friday night.  The Quakers stuffed Madison (53-32) last Friday.

          Sykes says they are clearly one of the best teams in the “OCC”.  “It’s a really good ball team.  They have got shooters, size, certainly well coached, so they're going to be disciplined.  So, it's going to be a big test for us.  I'm certain we're excited to finally play a game at home, it’s our home opener.  So, hopefully that'll give us a boost as far as energy and in our effort.  New Philly is certainly a really good ball club.  After watching both of their games they have got to be, in my opinion, certainly one of the front runners to be on the top of the conference towards the end of the year.  So, we're going to need our best effort in order to come out with a victory,” he said.

          Sykes control the tempo is a must for the Tygers.  “Certainly, kind of contrasting styles.  We want to play up and down and fast and they have a little more traditional, deliberate style of ball that they are going to tend to play.  So, whoever executes their game plan the most is the team that's going to come out on top.  A big key for us will be how we handle their size, so we're going to have to rebound well.  Then also we're going to have to be able to handle them on the offensive end.  They shoot it really well and they run a lot of sets and they run them really well.  We can’t allow them to just run their offense and do all of the things that they practice.  We are going to have to figure out some ways to get them out of their rhythm and get them out of their sets and figure out ways to get the game more in our tempo,” said Sykes.

Published 12/11/25

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Mansfield Senior with Tough Opener

          Mansfield Senior embarks on the 25-26 boys basketball season as they travel to the capital city to take on Columbus Academy in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they have done all they can to be ready and now they want to find out where they stand.  “At this point it's like yeah let's play, let's play ball.  We've spent a lot of time on a lot of different things in practice, watched all the film we can watch, now it's time for us to get the season started.  I think the guys were excited and the coaching staff is excited.  A really good opportunity for us to play a really, really good opponent straight out of the gate.  Give us some big test and kind of let us know exactly where we're at.  They'll expose all of our weaknesses and we'll also get a good look at and our strengths and what we're good at,” said Sykes.

          Sykes says they want to be tested and Tuesday night is going to give them that opportunity.  “Our non conference schedule is, as always, pretty loaded and it’s going to get us prepared for everything that we'll see in conference.  Hopefully, it also get us prepared for things that we could possibly see in sectionals, districts, and regionals,” he said.

          Columbus Academy was the state runner-up in division V last season and Sykes says they are going to be very good again.  “This is really one of the best teams out of Columbus.  One of the better teams in the state.  They have Jason Singleton Jr.  A lot of people who know that name from his dad's playing days at Ohio State.  Junior is headed to Harvard on a full ride scholarship, so that'll kind of let you know what kind of kid he is for him to be accepted academically as well as athletically,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “He is one of the best athletes in the state and a very serious basketball player.  We'll have our hands full trying to slow him down and trying to do everything we can and not allow him to go off and have a career night.”

Published 12/02/25

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Mansfield Senior Has to Rebound

          Mansfield Senior has a lot of the elements of a very good basketball team, but they are lacking in some areas too, particularly rebounding.

          They are preparing for a season that begins in a couple of weeks here.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they have a lot of really good players, including a couple of new ones.  “Well, we have a good group of guys coming back.  We have got some guys that have some experience on the varsity level.  We also got a couple of our move-ins back into the program that I've been in the program for years.  D.J. Corbin moved to Texas last season is back.  He is going to be a big help for us.  We also have got Davion Mack back.  He has been a city schools kid his whole life.  He had spent the last couple seasons at Mansfield Christian, but he's back with the Tygers.  So, high expectations for the Tygers as always.  The guys have been working pretty hard, so we're excited and we feel like we can have a successful season as long as we put it all together and remain unselfish,” said Sykes.

          Sykes says they have a lot of kids that can score, but it’s a matter of finding the right offense and who needs the ball where.  “That's what's keeping me up at night right now.  I think we've got six guys that have scored 20 points in the varsity game before.  So, all of those guys feel like their night is tonight to get to 20.  So, we're having a time trying to figure out how to share the basketball right now and trying to figure out what offense best suits us and those kinds of things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We'll get those things figured out, the coaching staff will.  The guys will certainly buy into whatever we're selling.  Once we get it all figured out, I really do feel like we can be successful.  It's just a process where we're trying to take it one day at a time and making sure we're breaking down the tape of practice and breaking down the tape of the scrimmage and showing these guys where they're making mistakes and showing them where they need to improve.”

          Sykes believe they can be very good on defense, but they have to get at closing out the possession with a rebound.  “Our defense is much further ahead than our offense.  So, we really could be a really good defensive team in the full court and in the half court.  Our biggest question mark is we don't have much size, so rebounding is an issue.  So, we've been doing a great job of not allowing teams to run their offense.  We've been doing a good job of pressuring the basketball and getting the initial stop.  We are just not doing a great job with the boxing out and rebounding.  So, right now we're having to get two and three stops before we get a rebound.  Once we tighten that up and sure that up, I feel like this could be one of our best defensive groups that we've had in the last several years.  That potential is there.  We're pretty athletic, fast, real quick, and we're scrappy.  We just have got to pay a little more attention, and have, a little more physicality in the boxing out and rebounding area.”

Published 11/12/25

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Tygers End Season With Rival Madison

          Friday night is the annual “Battle of Mansfield as the Senior High Tygers host the rival Madison Rams.

          It’s been a difficult season for both record wise.  Mansfield Senior (1-8) and Madison is (2-7).

          However, Tygers coach Antonio Flecther says believes his kids will be inspired to play.  “It's Madison week, so that's enough.  If you can't get up for that game then you're playing the wrong sport,” said Fletcher.

          Flecther says they know what they are going to get from Madison, a lot of Kaleb Gordon.  “Kaleb Gordon, they’re going to give him the ball 30 times.  They're going to run the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They like to give him the ball and they want to run the ball.  They will throw a little bit to keep you honest, but they want to run the ball.”

          Yes, anytime you play a big rival like this you are going to play with a little extra emotion, but Fletcher says you can’t go overboard.  “You want to play with emotion, but you can’t let your emotions overrun you where you can't focus on what the game plan at the end,” he said.

Published 10/24/25

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Tygers Able to Run the Ball

          Mansfield Senior will try to make it two in a row as they take their act to Canton Glenoak for a non-conference game on Friday night.

          The Tygers (1-7) earned their first win of the season when they downed Wooster (34-21) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game last Friday.

          Coach Antonio Fletcher says they were able to do something they have struggled with all year, run the football.  “We were able to do something we weren't able to do the weeks before was establishing a little bit of run game.  When you can actually run the ball a little bit that opens up some other things for us.  We actually had some success running the ball last week, so I think that was a huge difference for us,” said Fletcher.

          Fletcher says they were more consistent and this time they were able to battle the adversity.  “We’ve talked about that all year playing four quarters of football.  We have been putting a half together, or quarter here, a quarter there, and we were able to put four quarters of playing football.  Not worry about that adversity and just playing through it.  That kind of paid off for us,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior is at Glenoak (1-7), the Eagles have struggled this fall too.  They lost (21-10) to Massillon Jackson last week.  Their only win comes week three over Cleveland East Tech.

          Fletcher says this will be a tough game against a team used to great competition.  “They say they play the best football in the Federal League.  So, we're going to go up there and it will be a great test for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think our kids they feel a little bit better.  A win always makes you feel better.  So, we'll see how practice goes this week.  We're going to go to Federal League and see if we can get away with “W” up there.”

Published 10/14/25

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Mansfield Senior Must Avoid Lulls

          Mansfield Senior again this week will play one of the Ohio Cardinal Conference leaders in Ashland this time at home at Arlin Field on Friday night.

          They were in the game more than halfway through the second quarter last week and then Lexington exploded to score four times in about four minutes and it ended up (48-6) Minutemen.

          Coach Antonio Fletcher says they just lack the consistency that good teams need to have.  “We forced few turnovers on defensive wise.  It was a few minutes, I think there were five minutes left in the second quarter and it was 14-0 and some things didn't go our way.  They kind of got away from us and at that point it was 41-0 with one minute left in the second quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “That goes back to week one when the same thing happened to us with Hilliard Davidson.  Just a few minutes some things go bad and we don't recover it.  I think it's a lack of discipline or lack of being focused and things like that.  So, we have got to tighten those things, shore those things up.”

          The Tygers (0-6,0-3) host Ashland (6-0,3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Arrows belted Madison (38-7) last week.

          Fletcher says the Arrows have grown up in the same system.  “They got a great system over there.  They have got a quarterback that is a great kid, great quarterback, he can throw the ball.  They have got a system for I know for sure 15 years since I've been here.  Valentine has got a great system over there,” said Fletcher.

          Fletcher says the Arrows present you with a lot of challenges as a defensive football team.  “They have got five wides and that is always something anybody that runs that they spread you out.  Then (Nathan) Bernhard once he spreads you out, he can run a little bit.  So, it's a tough one for us,” he said.

Published 10/02/25

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Tygers Excited to Play Lexington

          Mansfield Senior plays onr its biggest rivals this week as they are at Lexington to battle the Minutemen on Friday night in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.

          They likely played their best game of the season last week in leading New Philadelphia (12-7) at the half, but the wheels came off in the season half and they lost (45-26) to the Quakers.

          Coach Antonio Flecther says that first half gives them something to build on.  “We started over how we wanted to start off and then second half kind of got away from us.  We have yet to put a put together four quarters of football the way we want to play, but we took away some you know some positive from it.  So, it was good in that aspect something to build on,” said Fletcher.

          Lexington (4-1,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, played its first conference game last week and they took apart Wooster (42-14), leading (42-0) at the half.

          Flecther says the Minutemen are blessed with a lot of athletes.  “They have got athletes.  They have got Seven (Allen), they have got (Joe) Caudill, they have got Brayden (Fogle).  They have got the running back Markale (Martin) back this week.  So, I mean they got athletes.  They're playing good football right now,” he said.

          This rivalry dates back to the late 1980’s with the creation of the Ohio Heartland Conference.  Lexington’s (19-6) win last year was their first in the series since 2018.

          Flecther says there will be a lot of emotion here.  “I wouldn't want to have it any other way, it’s a rivalry.  I remember playing them when I played.  Lexington was a rivalry.  We were I think at one point we were 8-1 and rolling high,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We went down to Lexington and they beat us.  They beat us down there at their place.  When it comes to a rivalry game you throw the records out.”

Published 9/23/25

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Tygers Ready for New Philadelphia

          Mansfield Senior will host New Philadelphia at Arlin Field on Friday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.

          They began the league schedule with a (45-6) loss to West Holmes last week.

          Coach Antonio Fletcher says again it’s the little things that are stopping them from winning games.  “I don’t want to say the same old song, but it is.  We are young and we have just got to figure it out.  We have got to take our lumps and try to figure out how we can turn things around here.  It’s mental mistakes.  It’s being disciplined as far as on defense.  Where we need to be.  Offensively, just the little things.  I am telling the kids now we have got to do the little thing right.  We have got to do the little thing that makes a big difference,” said Fletcher.

          Last season, Mansfield Senior only won one game, but it was against a pretty good New Philadelphia (20-19) in overtime.

          Flecther says the Quakers will remember that and is kids had better too.  “They've been in the conference for four years and they never beat us.  That’s the thing we have been harping on.  They have been here four years they never beat us, but you better believe that they are coming to get you guys because we won one game last year and they were a playoff team and one of those losses was to us” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're going to put that in our kids’ minds too.  They are going to come out here and they are going to play their hearts out because they want to revenge that loss for sure.”

          Last week, New Philadelphia (1-3,1-1) lost (34-7) to Ashland in “OCC” play.

          Fletcher says this is team that is really good on defense.  “They always play tough defense.  They play big, hard defense.  They have got a receiver that's real good.  I think he was a 4x100 meter in the conference in track.  They have a quarterback that is shifty.  They do a lot of different things.  They're going to disciplined.  I don't see them making many mistakes.  So, they're going to play hard football.  Like I said, they want to get us cause they ain't got us yet,” he said.

Published 9/17/25

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Tygers Have to Win the Trenches

          Mansfield Senior will be at home for the West Holmes Knights in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.

          They are (0-3) after a (47-7) loss to Cleveland Villa-Angela St. Joseph in non-conference play last week.

          Coach Antonio Fletcher says this is a fresh start for them.  “We've been talking to the kids this week about non conference is over and it’s a new season.  Now, let’s focus on the conference.  Let's go try to compete in this conference and get better each day,” said Fletcher.

          West Holmes (2-1,0-0) after a (28-7) win over Dover last week.

          Fletcher says the Knights want to be physical and run the ball at you.  “They are physical.  They want to run the ball.  The running back runs hard.  On defense they flow to the ball real good.  They have got a little freshman that makes plays for them.  He's a little playmaker for them,” he said.

          To win this game, Fletcher says they have to be the team that controls the point of attack.  “That's what we have been emphasizing with the kids this week.  We have got to win the trenches you know we want to get those guys behind the sticks on first down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Win those first downs.  Get them uncomfortable with things they don't want to really do.  So, if we can win first downs, I think we'll be okay.  We'll get control the line of scrimmage.”

Published 9/12/25

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Mansfield Senior Must Cut Mental Mistakes

          Mansfield Senior will be on road again this week as they head for Cleveland Villa Angela/St. Joseph to tangle with the Vikings on Friday night.

          Last week, the Tygers (0-2) gave up a bunch of points in hurray in the second quarter and lost (45-12) to Tiffin Columbian.

          Coach Antonio Fletcher says they had too many mental lapses.  “We kind of got away from what we wanted to do defensively and they put a few on us that probably we shouldn't have gave up, but we did.  We are a young team, so we learned on the fly.  So, it kind of got away from us.  Same thing as the first week.  We have mental mistakes and we just have just got to correct that and get it fixed,” said Fletcher.

          Fletcher says at times it can be difficult for them to simulate game conditions during practice.  “With the numbers we have we can't really get the game reps in practice because the guys just can't give us the game speed that it's going to be in during the games.  That’s something we have got to work on.  We have got to keep harping and keep going and keep pushing forward,” he said.

          Villa Angela/St. Joseph (1-1) lost (27-20) to Youngstown Cardinal Mooney last Friday.

          Fletcher says they have some athleticism and a big tight end that is a playmaker.  “So, watching them on film, they have got a tight end.  He’s got 26, 27 offers.  He’s the number 15 tight end in the state or something like that.  He's a big kid and fast.  They have got a couple young guys that get off the ball on the offensive and defensive line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have got a young quarterback.  He wasn’t the guy that was the starter.  So, their starter got hurt, but this guy stepped in and he's doing a great job for them.  He makes plays.  He finds the receiver and makes plays for them.”

Published 9/02/25

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Tygers Have to Battle Adversity

          Mansfield Senior is at Tiffin Columbian against the Tornadoes Friday night in a non-conference game.

          On week one, they fell to Hilliard Davidson (38-7) in a non-league game.

          Coach Antonio Fletcher says the first part of the third quarter just killed them.  “In the first half we played like we wanted to play.  We were in a game.  At half time we were down 17-7.  We thought we were right there and still in good position.  We came out second half and I'll say the first four minutes, a four minute span in the second half it kind of got away from us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They came down and scored on us.  The kickoff return we end up special teams, we didn't get a good return.  We got it probably at the 12 yard line.  I think the next the next snap, we kind of bobbled a little bit, a high snap where he just didn't catch it right, and it ended up on one yard line.  We didn't get anything going offensively and we punted it and we shanked the punt.  So, they got the ball back on the 20 and they went in and scored again.  So, that kind of just that three, four minute span it kind of got away from us.”

          Fletcher says they definitely has some things to work on this week.  “We are definitely we're working on our special teams.  Offensively, we showed some flashes of things, some good things and we showed some flashes of bad things.  I thought we kind of got a little fatigued and we kind of got down a little bit because of the scoreboard.  We have to continue to fight.  Things are not always going to be great and we have to be able to work through that adversity,” he said.

          Tiffin Columbian, out of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, lost (13-9) to Fremont Ross in their opener.  They are both part of division III, region 10.

          Fletcher says they respect Columbian with what they can do.  “They're going to be well disciplined.  They have got a nice receiver.  He runs good routes.  They have got a running back, he’s pretty stout, good looking kid.  Their defense they fly to the ball.  So, they're going to bring a challenge to us,” said Fletcher.

Published 8/27/25

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Tygers Face Hilliard Davidson

          Mansfield Senior starts its season at home on Friday night at Arlin Field as they host Hilliard Davidson in a non-conference football game.

          Longtime assistant Antonio Flecther was promoted to head coach this spring after a long process to find a replacement for the retired Chioke Bradley.

          Two a days are over and so are the scrimmages and now it is game week across Ohio.

          Fletcher says you can almost take a deep breath.  “The preseason over with and the long summer days are behind you, so you have got week one here in front of us,” he said.

          Fletcher knows whatever happened during the preseason when they turn the lights on Friday night things will be different.  He says it will be the kids that have to make the adjustments.  “In scrimmages coaches are out on the field sometimes and they get to make adjustments and all that, but during the game the coaches are on the sideline and you have to trust those kids and make those adjustments on defense or offense or just be players,” said Fletcher.

          Mansfield Senior was only (1-9) last year and the hope to be able to return to past glory.  Fletcher says to do that they are going to have to put their hard hats on.

          Hilliard Davidson was (8-5) a year ago and won two playoff games in division I.

          Fletcher says they are going to be deep and well coached.  “They are going to come in with 100 kids.  They're going to be well disciplined defensively.  They're going they're going to fly to the ball.” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon.  “Offensively, they have got some big guys up front.  They have got a running back that runs hard.  They're going to be well coached.”

Published 8/20/25

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Mansfield Senior Looking to Build

          Mansfield Senior is hoping 2025 is a lot better than last year was on the football field.

          They have a new coach for the first time in a longtime as Antonio Fletcher, a longtime assistant coach there, replaces Chioke Bradley, the all time leader in coaching wins for the Tygers.

          Flectcher feels since has already been part of the program for longtime that makes the transition smoother.  “It actually makes it a whole lot better.  I've already been associated with the program for the last 15 years.  I was an assistant coach here.  So, that kind of helped with a lot of transition part knowing the kids and knowing the staff, so that helps a lot,” said Fletcher.

          The Tyers play at Fremont Ross in their final scrimmage on Thursday night.

          Fletcher says they want to build the team piece by piece.  “We are a work in progress.  We didn't have a great year last year, so we're just trying to build on what we can from that and go from there,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior hosts Hilliard Davidson in their first game on August 22.  That will be followed by two more non-conference games against Tiffin Columbian and Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph.  Their first Ohio Cardinal Conference game is September 12 at home against West Holmes.

          Fletcher says he thinks more experience is going to help the Tygers improve from a (1-9) season a year ago.  “A lot things I look at from last year is that we were young.  We only had about seven seniors last year.  So, with that being said I think a lot of our guys had never had really varsity experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We've learned from that what to expect to play at the variety level.  So, that's kind of where we're at with that.  We know that we have got some talent, we just have got to put it together.  We have got to understand when you are playing varsity football you have got to bring your hard hat.”

Published 8/13/25

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This is the Year for the Tygers

          This is the baseball season that Mansfield Senior has been pointing to for some time, can the Tygers be competitors in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this spring.

          Well, coach J.R. Davis says they have the experience, that’s for sure.  “Realistically this is my like now or never year for me.  I have got seven or eight seniors this year.  These guys have been playing all four years of varsity baseball for me, so this is almost like a do or die year for me in a way,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I have taken my licks the last few years and hopefully I have got a favorable non conference schedule this year.  Hopefully, I can change a lot of opinions about Tyger baseball this year.”

          Davis says they have leadership and they have players that understand the game.  “That's the nicest thing now for me is that when we do these practices is like everybody knows what to do, everybody's excited.  These guys are leading the guys for next year all around and everything.  Like I said, I don't have to really lead practice anymore these guys are running it themselves for the most part,” said Davis.

          Davis truly believes that this team that is player led and that’s what you want. “That's the beautiful part with this team here especially.  I'm so happy with these guys and with them playing for four years they know how to run everything and all that,” he said.

Published 3/11/25

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Sandusky Runs Past Mansfield Senior

          Sandusky outscored Mansfield Senior (31-11) in the fourth quarter and the Blue Streaks downed the Tygers (72-58) in a district semifinal in division III at Willard High School on Tuesday night.

          They will be back on Friday night to battle Lexington (20-3) for the district title.

          They tailed by as much as ten (36-26) in the second half after a Kaylen Brooks hoop with 5:45 to play in the second quarter, but they just kept coming at the Tygers.

          Coach DeMar Moore says they gave great effort.  “Our guys gave everything they had.  They laid it all out on the line and we came up victorious,” said Moore.

          Trailing (47-41) entering that final quarter, the Blue Streaks scored 12 of the first 16 points of the furth to take their first lead since was (4-2) early at (53-51) on an Amir Aaron old fashion three point play and the surge continued from there.  The Streaks would never trail again.

          Morre says they got some energy and the shots go in and they got some rhythm.  “The basket kind of had a lid on it the first half.  The third and fourth quarter we started to hit some shots and our guys got a little bit of energy and we just kind of rolled from there,” said Moore.

          A key play was a set play coming out of a timeout that resulted in the three of the wing by Dale Johnson making it (56-52) and forcing a Mansfield Senior timeout.  “We drew it up and they executed it to a “T” and they ended up just how we drew it up.  So, I mean the kids were great.  They were locked in (Tuesday).  I couldn't ask for a better effort in the second half,” said Moore.

Tygers coach Marquis Sykes says Sandusky wore them down.  “We ran out of gas.  Up to that point we had done a solid job of executing our game plan, which was cut down to the penetration, keep them out of the paint.  We didn't do a good job of boxing out and rebounding the entire game, which was the difference early.  This is how they were able to keep it close then they just kind of wore us down,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We couldn't keep them out of the paint.  They got the rhythm, crowd got into it and there wasn’t a whole lot that we could do to kind of slow it down and stop it.  We fought hard and gave it what we had just didn't quite have enough once they got it going.”

There were not a lot of easy shots all night for either side, but Moore says they turned up the defensive intensity in that pivotable fourth quarter.  “We got really aggressive defensively and we're able to come up with some stops, a couple steals here and there and were able to convert them to baskets,” he said.

          Aaron led Sandusky (16-7) with 20 and Jason Henlon added 15 for the Streaks.

          Freshman Kalen Brooks had 17 for the Tygers.

          Lexington took down Ashland (69-48) in the lidlifter on Tuesday.

          Sandusky hammered Lexington (82-60) on January 4, but Moore expects a different game this time around.  “That was months ago,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “This this tournament time, so was it's going to be a big game and I'm sure Lexington will be ready to play and we'll be ready to play it so we'll see what happens.”

Published 2/26/25

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Tygers Must Make Game Winning Plays

          Mansfield Senior tangles with Sandusky in district semifinal in division III at Willard High School on Tuesday night.

          It follows the first semi between Lexington and Ashland.

          The Tygers (16-5) smoked Norwalk (84-59) in sectional final last Thursday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they played pretty well, but still weren’t at their best.  “At this point of the season you really just want to at all costs you just want to survive and advance.  I thought we played the solid game, not our best game, but certainly a solid game.  We saw that the energy and effort was there, the focus was there, we made enough plays defensively and made some shots.  We were able to celebrate our seniors with our senior night getting cancelled.  We were able to win a sectional championship on our home court.  So, we were happy with that, but we've had to turn the page and start focusing on a really, really good Sandusky squad,” he said.

          Sandusky (15-7), outright champion of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, beat Tiffin Columbian (71-61) in their sectional final.

          Sykes says they get a lot of deflections and steals which results in a lot of easy opportunities and quick scores.  “They’re excellent defensively flying to passing lanes and really, really good on the ball.  They get out in transition when they can create turnovers and they can score in bunches and they score quickly, and they can get hot from the perimeter.  It’s going to be a tough task.  They do a lot of really good things out there on the floor and on top of all of those things they do well they play extremely hard.  So, it's going to be a tough task for us and we're up for the challenge.  I know our guys will be ready to play and they also are going to play hard.  So, we expect a dogfight and expect nothing but a good game,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior beat Sandusky (84-77) in a game way back on December 7.

          Sykes says to win this game, they are going to have to make game winning plays on both ends of the floor.  “The way we see it, it has to happen on both ends of the floor.  We talk a lot about our guys making game winning plays and for us game winning plays could be a guy stepping in taking a charge, a game winning play could be the first guy getting on the ground the loose ball, a game winning play could be crashing the offensive boards or making sure you're in position to make a strong box out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Those are the plays that we feel like down the stretch that you really have to make.  It’s the points that a lot of people will see, but it’s those plays that I mentioned that we feel like those are the difference down the stretch where game winning plays need to be made and really make the biggest difference in the game.”

Published 2/25/25

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Mansfield Senior Has to be Versatile

          Mansfield Senior will host the Norwalk Truckers in a division III sectional final at Pete Henry Gym on Thursday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says you definitely know that it’s tournament season. “Practices in general seem to be a little more intense.  There's just a lot more sense of urgency from, especially your upperclassmen.  You don't necessarily get it as much from some of the younger guys, but the upperclassmen they start to feel the urgency and start to recognize that this could be your last game.  So, just get that sense of urgency and guys stepping up their intensity and not wanting these last days to be their last practices and the last days that they spend with their brothers,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (15-5), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the large school division, plays at home against Norwalk (7-14) out of the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division, on Thursday night.

          Sykes says as always the Truckers will be disciplined.  “We got the opportunity to scrimmage on Norwalk early in the season, so both of us will have some familiarity with each other.  We know that they're well coached and they'll be disciplined, and they will not beat themselves.  So, we're going to have to go out and execute and make sure our pressure is at a premium.  Just make sure that we're playing solid Tyger basketball,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior likes to push the tempo of the game, Norwalk does not.  The Truckers have played three games this year where the winner didn’t score 50 points.

          Sykes says they must be able to execute in that kind of game.  “We certainly prefer for it to be in the 70s, but we recognize tournament basketball it will slow down some. So, every possession really, really counts.  It is a little more magnified than the regular season.  So, we have been working all season to be able to put ourselves in a spot to where we feel comfortable playing a slower pace basketball game as well as playing a game that could be fast paced.  So, our preference is certainly for a game to be sped up, but if we can't do a great job of speeding it up with our pressure, we certainly hope that in the half court we will be able to execute and still score the basketball at a high level.”

Published 2/19/25

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Tygers Have Improvement Plan

          Mansfield Senior wraps up the regular season this weekend with an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night at West Holmes and a Saturday afternoon non-conference game against Toledo Rogers.

          They smoked Galion (75-38) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they played pretty well on both ends of the floor against Galion.  “I was happy with our play Tuesday night against Galion.  We played Tyger basketball.  The guys played hard, came out focused and weren’t disrespectful to the game at all.  They went out and just played Tyger basketball.  So, I was really excited about that.  We've been talking a lot about just playing the right way and playing Tyger basketball so then we can go into the tournament playing the game the right way.  We got that started I thought Tuesday hopefully that carries over into Friday and Saturday,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior will host Norwalk next week in a division III tournament game.

          Sykes and his staff have identified three specific areas that they need to improve before the postseason begins.  “We have got three things that we really have been talking about these last couple of weeks.  That's our on ball defense, boxing out and rebounding, and playing hard.  Just consistently those three things.  We feel like if we we're doing those three things consistently that the rest of the game will kind of fall in place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We feel like we're doing enough on the offensive end of the floor as long as we're doing those other three things that we've kind of struggled at during the regular season.  We just haven't been consistent guarding the basketball, haven't been consistent with boxing out and rebounding, and haven't been consistent enough with the playing as hard as we possibly can.  So, we really locked in on those things and practice it daily and been talking about it and the boys are starting to get into it and it looks like it's starting to carry over to the games and hopefully that carries over into the tournament.”

          Mansfield Senior (14-5,9-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is down at West Holmes (1-19,1-10) on Friday night.  The Knight lost (59-19) to archrival Berlin Hiland on Tuesday night.

          Sykes says they can’t just mail it in Friday.  “That was our plan against Galion to not be disrespectful to the game.  No matter what West Holmes record is we know they are going to come out and play hard.  For us, this is all about those three keys that we talk about.  If we're doing those things that we feel like we can, we will get better.  We will be playing our best basketball going into the tournament if we focus on those three things,” he said.

Published 2/14/25

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For Mansfield Senior, it’s Just Win

          Mansfield Senior is one back in the standings in the Ohio Cardinal Conference as we enter the final two weekends of the regular season.

          They trail Lexington by a game and the Minutemen conclude their “OCC” schedule on Friday against Ashland.  Mansfield Senior hosts Wooster on Friday and plays at West Holmes next Friday.

          After an (84-64) loss to Lexington last Tuesday in the “OCC” showdown, the Tygers beat Wooster Triway (94-88) in double overtime in a non-conference game on Friday and New Philadelphia (55-44) in an “OCC” game on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes was pleased with the bounce back.  “We were excited about last weekend.  We were able to come out with two wins last weekend, so we're excited about that just to be able to get our confidence back.  Get a couple of wins on our own court it's always a good thing.  We recognize we're still mathematically in it as far as the “OCC” championship works.  We’re still on the ground, we're still working hard, we're still trying to get better daily at practice now trying to start shifting towards tournament,” said Sykes.

          When it comes to the conference, Sykes says all they can do is win.  “Right now, we don't fully control our own destiny, but we have to win for any chance of getting a share of that championship.  So, that's our focus right now. Wooster is our next conference home game.  We have to treat as a conference championship game.  So, the guys so far have had a good week of preparation.  We are locked in and focusing in on what we need to do to try to beat Wooster,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (12-5,8-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Wooster (10-8,6-4) on Friday night.  The Generals are coming off a (49-38) win at Dover on Tuesday night.

          The Tygers beat Wooster (61-45) January 3 at Wooster.

          Sykes says they are always dangerous because they have shooters.  “On any given night they have got three or four guys that that can really get it going and shoot the ball really well.  They have got (Brady) Bowen, who's averaging almost 20 points a game and (Anthony) Carmean is around 13, 14 points a game.  When those guys were shooting it really well, Wooster is usually playing really well and winning games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They'll be big part of our focus trying to slow them down doing everything we can to force those guys to shoot a lower percentage and look to defend and rebound.

Published 2/06/25

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Tygers Have to Make Plays

          Mansfield Senior and Lexington share first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and they clash on Tuesday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          The winner likely will be the conference champion.

          Senior High coach Marquis Sykes says these are the kind of games kids dream about.  “For me at least growing up playing ball in the backyard, in the parks, or wherever.  We always thought about these kinds of games, championship games, or games between teams in first place. All little kids did the count down taking the last second shot and all those things.  So, these kinds of games that's what we prep for in the offseason.  That's why we schedule really tough non conference games to help us prepare for these kinds of moments.  So, hopefully our guys are prepared and ready to roll step up in the way that we'll need to in order to come out with a win,” said Sykes.

          Lexington (14-2,8-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won on their home floor (74-70) on December 20.

          Defending “OCC” play of the year Brayden Fogle did not play in that game for the Minutemen.

          Sykes says he’s a load.  “He’s one the best players in the area and one of the best players in the state.  A two sport athlete.  A high major recruit on the football field and basketball court.  So, we know what he brings to the table.  His size and strength and athleticism creates a difficult task for us.  So, we're going to have to be strong in the paint and have to be physical and have to figure out ways to keep him off the glass and keep him out of the paint,” said Sykes.

          Mansfeld Senior (10-4,7-1), #2 in our poll, is always a tremendous rebounding team and Sykes says so is Lexington.  “For years that's been a big emphasis for Lexington basketball, so no difference this season and they do a tremendous job on the boards on both ends of the floor.  It really can change games if they're hitting offensive glass and if you allow them to get 14, 15, 16 offensive rebounds it could really be a major game changer and flip the score of the game,” he said.

          Sykes says in games like this you have to make more plays than the other guys and that includes little plays.  “Basketball that's how the game is played down the stretch you have to make a game winning plays.  What we teach is game winning plays can be a number of things.  It can be something as simple as an offensive rebound, could be the first guy to dive on the floor, it could be a toughness play stepping in and taking the charge,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Those are the kind of game winning plays that that we need all of our guys to make, whether it be the beginning of the game or closing out a quarter or at the very end of the game.  That's the way we teach and hopefully our guys will be ready to make some impactful game winning plays.”

Published 1/28/25

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Tygers Have to Slow Ashland Down

          Mansfield Senior, the co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will host the Ashland Arrows in an “OCC” game on Friday night.

          The Tygers share first place with Lexington and play the Minutemen next Tuesday, but Ashland comes first.

          They beat rival Madison (68-42) in an “OCC” game last Friday.

          They lost (65-60) to Big Walnut in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon.

          Coach Marquis Skyes believes they learned from that loss.  “Playing the good teams, it'll expose your weaknesses and certainly that was what Big Walnut was able to do.  So, I feel like this week during our practices we learned quite a bit from a lot of our mistakes and issues from that game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night. “I feel like certainly we will be better moving forward and was able to get a bit of a wake up call and a humbling experience just all of last week with Big Walnut and Bishop Hartley and our non-conference schedule in general.  I think we had a tough stretch, but at the same time we're able to learn and grow and get better from the experience.”

          Mansfield Senior (9-4,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, entertains Ashland (8-5,4-4) on Friday night.  The Arrows belted West Holmes (84-57) in an “OCC” game last Friday.

          Sykes says they have multiple shooters and a rim protector in Zach Bernhard.  “They shoot the ball really well.  They get up and down the floor as well.  They have a big that will bang and rebound for them.  So, certainly a tough challenge.  Ashland always plays us tough whether we are at home on the road.  So, we expect a dog fight.  We're going to get their best effort.  I pray that that the Tygers come ready to play and we give our best effort,” said Sykes.

          The Tygers won at Ashland back on December 17 (66-59) at Arrow Arena.

          Sykes says perimeter defense and getting back in transition are key to their success.  “You really have got to put a high emphasis, heavy emphasis on guarding the three-point line.  Put the emphasis on the defensive transition.  If you do those two things you can slow them down a bit, but you have got to really make sure that's the key part of the game plan and locked in on it and execute it,” he said.

Published 1/23/25

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Tygers Have to Play Harder

          Mansfield Senior, the Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader, plays at home at Pete Henry against traditional rival Madison on Friday night.

          They share first with Lexington.

          They had likely their worst performance of the season on Tuesday night when they were blitzed (82-52) by Columbus Bishop Hartley in a non-conference game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they were not at their top form.  “We simply weren't ready to play.  Bishop Hartley is certainly one of the best teams in division III and probably one of the better teams in any division.  You can't come into their place not ready.  I didn’t have our guys ready to play and we got a good old fashioned buck kicking,” he said.

          Sykes says they really can’t wait for Friday night to get here so they can play another game.  “We really need to get this this bad taste out of our mouths.  All of us we're really disappointed in our game (Tuesday) from our coaching staff all the way down all of our players.  We got on the practice for (Wednesday) after watching film and we were able to get the taste out a little bit, but we won't really be able to feel it until Friday.  So, we feel like we'll be much better prepared coming up this Friday against our rival and hopefully our guys will play intense, play upset and are ready to have a much better showing,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (8-3,5-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Madison (4-10,1-6) on Friday.  The Rams lost (58-45) to Norwalk in a non-league game on Tuesday.

          The Tygers took the first game between the two rivals (85-69) on December 13.

          Sykes expects a closer game this time.  “They have a new coach, a new system, so we expected that it will take a little time for those guys to really take in what coach (Davey) Hipp is trying to do, but we certainly can see the improvement from watching film on those guys.  We can see the improvement over the course of the season.  We know they're going to give us a tough test no matter where the game is played and no matter what part of the season is played in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We expect them to come in and play extremely hard.  We have to match and exceed their intensity and be ready to play some of our best basketball this season.  We've reached the midway point it's really time to start getting ourselves prepared for the conference run stretch and into our tournament stretch.”

Published 1/16/25

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Mansfield Senior Seeks Improvement

          Mansfield Senior puts out the welcome mat for West Holmes in a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Tuesday night.

          The Tygers (7-1,4-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, share first place with Lexington and Wooster.

          They handed Wooster their first conference loss (61-45) at Wooster last Friday.  Then beat Maumee Valley (61-42) on Saturday in post holiday tournament in the Columbus area.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says the win over Wooster was pretty big.  “Any conference win on the on the road especially is a big win.  We'll take it.  Our guys came out and certainly didn't play perfect, but good enough for us to get the win.  We knew over break this it's just difficult to get wins, it's difficult to maintain your structure and your routine.  So, we were happy we're coming out with two wins after not having any games over the last couple of weeks,” said Sykes.

          The Tygers host West Holmes (0-8,0-5) on Tuesday night.  The Knights lost (59-32) to Meadowbrook in a non-conference game last Friday.

          Sykes says they are inexperienced, but his club can’t let their guard down.  “We know that they're going to come in and they're going to fight.  We know they're struggling a little bit.  They have a lot of young guys in the mix that are playing right now, but we know they're going to come in and they're going to fight,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night,” We've certainly been talking to our guys about respecting our opponents, respecting the game and coming out playing Tyger basketball.  Play as hard as we possibly can, doing everything that we can to make sure that every time we step on the floor, whether it’s practice or games, that we're getting better.  Putting ourselves in positions to try to be in the running for a conference championship and somewhere in the running for a higher seed come tournament time.”

          Sykes says at this point in the season momentum is important.  “The more good games we can string together I feel like the more confident the guys would be if we're playing the right way.  That just means that we're getting better and better and better and better every time we step on the court.  Certainly, momentum is key and focus on getting better it's another big key,” he said.

Published 1/07/25

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Mansfield Senior With Tough Test

          Mansfield Senior, a game back in the “OCC” standings, plays on the road at conference leader Wooster on Friday night.

          They have not played since losing their first game of the season on December 20 (74-70) at Lexington. 

          Coach Marquis Sykes really isn’t sure how his kids are going to react to such a long break.  “That that remains to be seen.  I'm not really sure yet.  I know we got some much needed rest and some much needed family time, a little bit of time off around the holidays, which is good.  I think we did have a good week of preparation so far this week, so we'll see.  We'll see how things look this coming weekend.  I know we're well rested and guys are ready to actually hit the floor.  So, hopefully it was a good thing for us to not play over this last week and half or so,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (5-1,3-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, will be at Wooster (6-2,4-0), #4 in our poll, on Friday night.  The Generals smoked West Holmes (68-34) last week.

          Sykes says they are playing excellent basketball.  “They have got a couple guys that are scoring the ball that are high level, shooting the ball really well.  They're playing really hard and other guys are really scrappy and getting after it.  So, it’s going to be a tough test for us to go on the road.  These guys are in first place in the conference right now, so it’s going to be a huge game for us to see how we can come off of a break and on the road against the top team in the conference right now.  So, hopefully our guys will be pumped up and ready to roll and then hopefully we can give our best effort,” said Sykes.

          Sykes says Wooster will be a challenge, but right now their focus is on themselves.  “It would put us in a good place certainly.  Right now, I think our focus, at least from the coaching staff standpoint, is we're really trying to focus on ourselves and just getting better each day and making sure our guys are focused on the details all the little things that make teams good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “That's really been our focus over break.  What we really want to see is our guys come out on the floor and execute all of the things that we worked on over break.  If we do those things, we'll be happy and I think we'll definitely be competitive if we do the things that we worked on.”

Published 1/03/25

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Mansfield Senior Has to Want it

          Mansfield Senior makes the short trip to Lexington to battle the rival Minutemen in a huge early season Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          The Tygers (5-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, got past Ashland (66-59) in a conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Skyes says there wasn’t much time to prepare, but they made enough plays to beat a very good Ashland team.  “We generally like to take Sundays off and use that as our day of rest or spiritual day for guys to kind of focus on God and family those kinds of things.  So, coming in on Mondays and one days’ worth of prep for Tuesday night game those can be a little difficult, especially those that are on the road, especially those against a quality, well coached opponent, like Ashland.  It was a dog fight like we always get when we go over to Ashland.  We made enough plays down the stretch.  Our young fella Keylan Brooks hit some big, tough shots early in the game and we were able to come out with the win,” said Sykes.

          Lexington (4-1,2-1), #2 in our poll, lost for the first time Tuesday night when Wooster beat them (75-68) in “OCC” action.  They continue to play without Brayden Fogle, out with an injury.

          However, Sykes says they are still very good.  “They're Lexington and they have got some quality basketball players.  Coach (Scott) Hamilton does a really good job with those guys.  Always has them in the right places, they’re always excellent on the defensive end and always excellent on the glass.  So, even shorthanded missing arguably their best player still really quality team.  Seven Allen is in my opinion one of the better guards in the state.  So, they've got plenty of talent well and we know it's going to be a tough one no matter who's missing,” said Sykes.

          Sykes says as always rebounding is going to be a big factor.  “Anytime we get together I'm sure that'll be highlighted in bold print on their scouting report and it certainly is on ours.  So, in my opinion the team that wins the rebounding battle, along with a couple other keys sprinkled in there, that'll be the team that more than likely will win the game,” he said.

          Sykes says to him the difference on Friday night will be who makes the hustle plays.  “We have got to be the team that plays the hardest.  We have got to be the team that wants it a little more.  We have got to be the team that's the most physical and willing to put up the most fight,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I just think that that's going to be the difference maker in this game.  Both teams have enough shot makers, both teams have guys that can get out in transition and score and finish and do all of those things.  It's going to come down to the little things like boxing out and rebounding and taking charges, who gets on the floor first for loose balls.  All of those little things that'll be the difference and that will be the team that wins this game.”

Published 12/20/24

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Mansfield Senior Has to Play With Energy

          Mansfield Senior plays at its longtime rival Madison in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.

          The Tygers tipped off their season last weekend with a an “OCC” win at New Philadelphia (62-57) and then beat a very good Sandusky team (84-77) in non-conference play on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says the win Saturday night was huge for their confidence.  “It's been a few years since we've been able to get Sandusky.  That's one of our bigger non conference rivalries that's going back for years we've battled.  So, a big win for our program and good for our guy’s confidence.  Hopefully, we can continue with this momentum early in the season,” he said.

          Madison (1-3,0-1) lost to Wooster (64-46) in their “OCC” opener last Friday.  They were bludgeoned by talented Norwayne (69-27) on Tuesday.

          Sykes says he expects Madison to fight hard against them like they always do.  “I expect them to battle and fight and expect this to be like most of our rivalry games are and just expect it to be a dog fight.  I know those guys will be ready to play.  They're ready to protect their home floor against their rival and conference rival at that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I think it will be a hard fought battle.  Our guys have gotten after it pretty hard this week in practice.  Our focus is still kind of been on ourselves and making sure we're fine tuning all the little things that we need to do to get better and better.  So, we'll continue to focus on ourselves and hopefully get out there Friday night compete and play as hard as we possibly can.”

          It’s another road game in the “OCC” for the Tygers and Skyes knows those are never easy.  “It’s always difficult no matter where you travel.  It's tough to get a road win in this conference.  All of the coaches are excellent, the teams will be well prepared and all of the teams play hard, so that makes it especially difficult.  We know we have to come with a lot of energy and effort.  Then we know that we're going to have to execute on both ends of the floor.  If we're not doing that at a high level no matter where we're traveling to, we'll be in a dog fight it if not getting our tails kicked,” said Sykes.

Published 12/12/24

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Tygers Would Like to Push the Pace

          Mansfield Senior hits the hardwood for the first time this weekend as they head for New Philadelphia for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday and host the talented Sandusky Blue Streaks on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they are eager to see how good they can be. “We're starting to get excited now, the season is here, only a couple days until the lights come on.  So, we're a little anxious just to see exactly how the guys react.  We’ve got some young guys that we're excited about, but just never really know until those lights come on.  We’ve also got some veterans that we count on and we kind of know what they're going to look like.  So, just overall, just excited and ready to get things started and play against somebody else other than ourselves,” he said.

          The Tygers may not have their normal depth, at least early in the season and Sykes says they will rely on their veterans.  “They've taken the brunt of the leadership load here in our preseason and kind of showing the young guys the way and how we do things and what the expectations are.  So, I will lean on them most come game time.  We use them to gauge when we need to call time outs and what sets we need to be running, what wrinkles do we may want to throw in during the course of the game.  Kind of look to them with how they're feeling and throughout the game to make some of those decisions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Should be able to have some veterans and some guys that know what's going on out there on the floor.  We're really excited to having Kyevi Roane back for his senior campaign Rashad Reed having him back for his junior campaign.  Going to go lean on them and hopefully they respond.”

          New Philadelphia (2-0) rocked Riverview (66-36) on Tuesday night.

          Sykes says they like to run and push the pace while New Philadelphia does not.  “New Philly is always a tough matchup for us.  Stylistically we're polar opposites of how we want to play.  They're always excellent and well coached.  They've got a few guys that can shoot the basketball.  They do what they do.  They do what they're coached to do.  So, it's not ideal, it's not that the team I want to open up with in a conference game.  So, a little nervous to see how our guys are going to respond to their atmosphere on their home floor and their style of play.  We recognize that if we play a certain way with a certain amount of energy, a certain amount of effort for us, we feel like it doesn't matter who we play.  If we play a certain way and we'll put ourselves in position to at least have a chance to win the game,” said Sykes.

Published 12/05/24

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Mansfield Senior Coming Together

          Mansfield Senior has a storied basketball tradition and they are working to put together another solid team this year.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they are trying to build some depth on the roster.  “We have got some unknowns.  We do have some good talent coming back.  We've got some veterans and so forth and so on, but still definitely have some unknowns in regards to our depth.  I think some of our previous teams the past few years have shown to be a little deeper than what we are currently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “The guys are working hard.  They seem to be taking in the coaching and giving us the best effort.  So, excited about this year certainly.  I think that we can do some good things this season as long as we lock in on the coaching and come together as a team.”

          Sykes says right now they are trying to figure out how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together.  “That's kind of where we're at right at the moment really trying to figure out some of our younger guys and some of our guys that played significant JV minutes last year and just to see how they fit into the puzzle.  Seeing who plays best where and with whom so forth and so on.  This is actually really one of the more fun parts of the season.  Really trying to figure it all out.  It's been challenging at times, but for the most part the guys have been good about it and we haven't had to deal with much ego or attitude or anything like that.  So, it's been fun and we are a work in progress,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior is slated to being the season with a double weekend December 6 and 7 against New Philadelphia and Sandusky.

          Sykes says trying to develop some chemistry is going to be important at this time of year too.  “We talked about it a lot over the summer and while we're doing a lot of that work, but also right now is when it really comes into play.  You've got really nobody focusing in on any other sports, no fall sports or spring sports.  So, right now we've got all of their attention and the focus is really on us just coming together as a team and trying to maximize all of their potential and be the best team we can be,” he said.

Published 11/14/24

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Madison Nips Mansfield Senior in Eight

          Madison beat arch rival Mansfield Senior (2-1) in eight innings on Tuesday evening in play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          Rams coach Nick Melton says it was a big win for a young team.  “Extra innings and getting a win that's a huge win.  Hopefully, it builds a little confidence moving forward.  We are really young and I'm almost getting tired of saying it because the season is half over at this point, but starting four, sometimes five sophomores and one or two freshmen every night it is a really inexperienced group,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “One senior in Ethan Glasgow, but then you've got Ethan and Cameron Kuhn, they are guys that have played 50, 60 varsity baseball games.  So, it's a little bit of both ends of the spectrum.  Youth shows from time to time and it's one of those growing pains that we have got to get through.  We were able to eek one out (Tuesday) night at Senior High.  It feels good a little bit, but then it's right back to the grindstone and we see Senior High (Wednesday) night at our place.”

          Tygers coach J.R. Davis says they are disappointed, but still pleased with the direction they are heading.  “Very proud of the way the kids came to play.  We played a great game, but they made one more play than us and that’s what decided the game.  I’m happy where this program is going forward.  This one hurst for sure, the great thing about this game is there is always tomorrow,” he said.

          Madison (1-7,1-5) found some eighth inning magic.  Melton says they got busy with two outs.  “We got to the 8th inning and our first two hitters got out pretty quick.  Our nine hitter Grady Spurlock was able to capitalize on Senior High’s lone error.  Hit a ground ball and was able to beat the throw to first base.  Right there with the nine hitter getting on base and Cameron Kuhn coming to bat.  Going in, Cameron is outstanding this year, he was sitting .640 going into the night.  I know it dropped (Tuesday) night, but you feel really good anytime he's coming to the plate, especially with runners on base.  We were able to steal second base with Grady Spurlock and on the pitch Cameron hits a single so we go first and third.  First and third two outs your two hole hitter up even with two outs you feel comfortable in that situation and we were able to get that run across,” said Melton.

          Spurlock scored as Kuhn got in a rundown.

          Melton says the Rams pitching was outstanding all night, including the bottom of the eighth.  “One run was all we needed there to hold it in the bottom of the eighth.  We brought Ethan Glasgow in the eighth after E.J. Fox threw a tremendous game on the mound.  E.J. gave up four hits through seven innings and threw 78 pitches, I believe.  So, E.J. was just a warrior.  We bring in Ethan and he’s able to go pretty quick there through the eighth inning,” he said.

Published 4/17/24

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Tygers Get a Win

          Mansfield Senior picked up its second win of the season in beating Bucyrus (12-2) in a non-conference game at Arlin Field on Monday evening.

          Coach J.R. Davis says it felt good.  “It was a much needed win for our program for sure,” he said.

          Davis says it was nice to get on the field against someone they can compete with.  “I just think the biggest thing (Monday) night was just kind of letting go of who we're playing because our conference is so tough.  When we play teams like Wooster, Mt. Vernon and New Philly.  We played Mt. Vernon and New Philly both last week.  So, just getting beat up like that that's kind of the toughest part about it trying to get the kids motivated.  So, having a game like this just kind of rejuvenates them and be able to be ready for the upcoming games that we have on our schedule,” said Davis,

          Mansfield Senior (2-6,0-5) is scheduled to play arch Madison the next two days in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.

          Davis says they look forward to the opportunity.  “It's one of those morale boosters that we need just because we haven't won a conference game in the last however many years, especially since I've been here,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I know the kids feel more confident when we play against Madison just because we know in the past we've lost like 2-0, we lost by one run just here and there to Madison compared to all of our other “OCC” games that we play.  So, it's just one of those things just morale and just be able to be confident going into it and that's why (Monday) night was so special for us.”

Published 4/16/24

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Could be Special Year For Mansfield Senior

          Mansfield Senior has been spendings its springs in the bottom half of the Ohio Cardinal Conference baseball standings, but this year could be different.

          Coach J.R. Davis says they have everybody back from a seven win team and they certainly have some potential.  “I've been very excited after the end of last year knowing that I was going to have everybody back from last year.  Didn't have one senior last year and we had seven wins, which is the most since I want to say 2012 for us.  So, it's just been really exciting all preseason. The kids have been working their butts off.  They know how important this season is, especially for our school, just because of baseball not being looked very well high school wise.  They know that they can really change the opinions of a lot of minds in our area,” said Davis.

          With all of his guys back, Davis says the Tygers know what his expectations are for practice and attitudes.  “The beautiful part of it is that they know what I expect too.  So, when we start having practices and everything there's not really anything I need to implement discipline wise because they already know my expectations and how we set up practices.  There are times I show up halfway through practice and they already know what to do.  They're already going through all what we need to get done.  That's a nice thing.  One less thing I have got to worry about with everything else with a head coach what comes with it,” he said.

          Davis believes this can be a really special year for the Tygers on the baseball diamond.  “Well, the interesting part.  For us at Mansfield Senior High baseball wise really it's kind of a lot of kids just started during baseball season.  They don't really do it all year round,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Luckily for us, I have got a great group of kids that most of them, out would say like the 12 kids I have on varsity right now, I want to say 10 of them play almost year round.  They play fall ball, they play summer ball, and so that's a very rare thing for us.  That's why I keep saying that they have got to take advantage of this year while we can because I just think it's going to be a very special year for us.”

Published 3/15/2024

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Shelby Rallies Past Mansfield Senior

          Shelby outscored Mansfield Senior (22-13) in the fourth quarter and rallied to beat the Tygers (60-55) in a division II district semifinal played at Ontario High School on Thursday night.

          They will return to the “O-Rena” on Saturday night to face Lexington, who beat Willard (59-57) in overtime in the second game.

          Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says he knew it would be a war.  “Our district is just so, so tough and we knew at the end of (Thursday) two really good basketball teams are not going to be playing Saturday.  So, we're familiar with every team in our district.  Obviously, Mansfield playing them in January.  We knew they were going to throw everything at us.  We were fortunate to get a win over there on the road in January, but we knew it was going to be a battle, we knew it was going to be a four quarter game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I'm just so proud of the way the guys, like these two, and the rest of our guys in the locker room just stepped up in big moments and really turned the tide in the second half.”

          Mansfeld Senior held the lead for most of the first 27 minutes of play.  Leading by as many as eight in the second half.  Kyevi Roane bagged a goal to put the Tygers up (37-29) with 2:55 to play in the third quarter.

          Senior High coach Marquis Sykes says they gave it all they had.  “They left it all out on the floor.  We gave it everything we had, everything we had and just came up a little bit short.  A play here, a play there, a foul here, a foul there, a loose ball here.  They made the necessary plays, Shelby did, down the stretch to get the lead.  They capitalized at the free throw line and that kind of summed up the second half for us,” he said.

          Shelby (22-2) took it’s first lead the second half when Issaiah Ramsey converted two free throws with 5:17 left to put the Whippets up one (46-45).  Shelby went up five on a basket by Karsen Homan and two free throws by Bryson Baker, but the Tygers responded with a three by Ja’Ontay O’Bryant and a goal by Duke Reese to make it (50-50) with 2:47 left in the game.

          The Whippets then put together a key (6-0) run as Holman gave them the lead on a layup, followed by a play when Brayden DeVito tipped away a Tyger pass and found Ramsey streaking to hoop to put it in and Casey Lantz gave the Whippets a (56-50) lead with 1:04 to go.

          Mansfield Senior got as close as (57-55) on a jumper by Rashad Reed with 2.2 seconds left, bit it was not to be as Ramsey added three more free throws in the final 1.4 seconds.

          District player of the year Alex Bruskotter had 11 points, eight the second half for Shelby, but he was saddled with foul trouble all night and played only 20 minutes.  He fouled out with :56 seconds to play.

          He was spelled in the lineup by sixth man Homan, who had 13 points and four rebounds.

          Gallaway says he has been turning in those kind of performances all year long.  “I mean “Homie” been awesome this year for us.  He's just a guy that any coach wants on their team.  He loves his role, he embraces his role, if he scores 10 points, he scores two points, zero points he gives us that consistent energy and effort every single time.  He's so contagious too with his energy when he's on the floor.  We get four guys that are just busting through screens playing extremely hard.  So, he's been doing that all year, so it wasn't anything that was a surprise,” said Gallaway.

          Homan, who has been getting more playing time as the season has progressed, says he just wants to do things to make the team successful.  “The reason I came out and played basketball and wanted to be part of this team in first place was I know I'm not going to be the most skilled guy, but I know I can control my effort and enthusiasm and I love playing with the guys that I play with.  Whatever way I can make them play better is how I want to compete,” he said.

          Shelby trailed (29-21) at the half and couldn’t get much done on offense making just 8-24 field goals (33%), but Gallaway says they made better fundamental plays in the second half, making 10-22 attempts  “When you try to play like two, three dribble combo moves against a team aggressive like Mansfield Senior it's going to get ripped.  The way they were calling fouls early, they weren’t calling any.  I thought we did a much better job just entering it and going, not thinking, making one move and go and then finishing through contact at the rim.  I think that was a big thing.  It wasn't even anything we said at the half, it was just our guys playing smarter and playing off two feet,” said Gallaway.

          Offensive rebounding was a big part of the narrative on Thursday night as almost any game involving Mansfield Senior usually is.

          The Tygers totaled 18 offensive rebounds in the first half as they dictated the game.

          Sykes says that is something that they pride themselves on at Mansfield Senior.  “That's the statement in our program.  The guys, especially first half, that was probably the difference in the game in the first half.  That's just something that we will continue to build on and continue to do.  The first half of our season we weren't great on the offensive boards and that was something we put a focus on the second half of the season,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It helped us and it will continue to help us.  (Roane) had nine boards the first half alone.  At 6’1” he is playing against several guys that are 6’6”, 6’7”, 6’5” and that's a tremendous feat.  That just shows to his character and his basketball I.Q. that he knows how to use his athleticism to make those kinds of plays.”

          Roane ended up with 18 points and 12 rebounds, game his in both categories.  Ramsey led Shelby with 15 and Lantz added 12.

          However, in the second half Shelby only allowed four offensive rebounds and Gallaway felt that was key to their performance.  “That's our number one key was team rebounding.  I don't even know what the number was at half, how many offensive, it was a lot.  Our adjustment at halftime was like we need five guys boxing out and we held them to four offensive rebounds in the second half and that was the difference,” he said.

Published 3/08/24

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Tygers to Face a More Balanced Shelby

          Mansfield Senior faces off with Shelby in a district semifinal in division II at Ontario High School on Thursday night.

          The winner will play either Lexington or Willard in Saturday night's district final.

          The Tygers (17-7) beat Bellevue (57-48) in a sectional final last Friday night.  They have won five of their last six and coach Marquis Sykes believes they have playing well, but he does not think they have peaked yet.  “I'd like to think so.  I think it’s an improvement in all of those things, but all in all the guys are working hard doing what we ask them to do.  I think right now we're playing our best basketball of the season.  That doesn't mean we can't get better, but certainly at this point playing our best ball,” said Sykes.

          Shelby (21-2), the outright champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, hammered Vermilion (76-40) in their sectional championship game.

          Sykes says the Whippets are just good everywhere.  “We certainly know we got our hands full.  Just a really solid group, well coached, have got some really good athletes, great shooters.  It's just a difficult matchup for us, but if we can guard the three point line and play with passion, play with energy and effort and play well on both ends of the floor I think we could make it a competitive game,” he said.

          Back on January 27, Shelby drilled Mansfield Senior (73-55) at Pete Henry Gym.  Casey Lantz has perhaps his biggest night of the season in an important game when he finished with 25 points.

          Sykes says Shelby is certainly more than just district player of the year Alex Bruskotter.  He says they have a lot of outstanding players they will need to contend with.  “That was what made them so dangerous the first time we played them.  I think (Alex) Bruskotter may have had 15 or 16 points in the first game, but Casey Lance went off, (Issaih) Ramsey had a really good game as well, (Brayden) DeVito hit some really clutch  shots and clutch threes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “ Some of those guys are really playing their best basketball right now as well, so that that makes for a really, really difficult matchup because it just makes it hard to get extra help on Bruskotter when you have those guys out there on the floor who are making shots and making plays.”

Published 3/07/24

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Tygers Want to Force the Pace

          Mansfield Senior will be at Bellevue to face the Redmen on Friday night in a division II sectional semifinal.

          It’s a rematch from last season when the Tygers won (65-59) at Bucyrus High School.

          On Tuesday night, the Tygers ran past Ontario (81-46) in a semifinal.

          The tempo of the game was fast and coach Marquis Sykes says that’s the way they like it.  “We certainly want to play fast and that's certainly what Ontario looks to do, get up and down as well.  So, (Tuesday) night we were able to get an up and down contest.  They were playing us a full court defensively.  We were up playing full court defensively.  So, it kind of turned into a bit of a track meet.  I think our guys kind of wore them down a little bit.  Our depth kind of got to them.  We were able to go on a big run in the second half and kind of blow the game open,” he said.

          When it comes to tempo, Sykes says the Redmen (17-5) are going to want it to be a lot slower.  “I think it'll be a lot different from Tuesday.  This game certainly has the makings of being in the 40s and 50s.  They are a really good defensive team.  They don't give up a whole lot of points, so we're going to do everything we can to attempt to speed the game up, but still recognizing that we have got to stay under control and stay disciplined.  Once the game does slow down, we have to be able to execute and score in the half court.  On the other end of the floor, we have to make sure we're defending and doing everything we can to keep them out of their offense and out of the rhythm and hit the glass.  If we do all of those things, we'll put ourselves in a position to be able to try to win the game,” said Sykes.

          Bellevue nine times this season has not allowed the opponent to score 40 points. 

          Sykes says they are going to have to be very efficient on offense.  “We are going to have to you know pick and choose our spots and make sure our guys will get the basketball in the areas where they're comfortable and just making sure that that we're not being sped up and we're not out of our rhythm offensively.  We want to make sure that we're taking the shots that we practice every day and making sure that we're getting shots out of our offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “(Tuesday) night we had 17 assists, so that means guys were making extra passes, that means guys were making shots and they were getting out in transition and being able to do some different things.  So, that's the goal, that's the plan, if we can, get out in transition and share the basketball.  If we can run our stuff and get the shots that we want, we feel like that's our best chance offensively for us to score some points.”

Published 2/29/24

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Tygers Looking for Momentum

          Mansfield Senior plays its last regular season game at arch rival Madison on Friday night in play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          Last Friday, in an “OCC” game, the Tygers beat New Philadelphia (40-35) to hold second place in the conference.

          Coach Marquis Skyes says they had to grind, but they got it.  “We came out with a nice win at home on senior night.  It was a tough contested, hard fought game.  New Philadelphia, they shot the ball well and played the game they wanted to play, but we were still able to grind it out and make enough plays to come out with the win,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Wednesday night, “All in all we were happy to be able to get a win on senior night, no matter what the score was, no matter how ugly it was, a win is a win, and we were happy about it.”

          Mansfield Senior (15-6,11-2) takes the short trip across town to Madison (1-19,1-12) on Friday night.  The Rams are coming off a (46-40) loss to West Holmes on Saturday night in league play.

          Sykes says records don’t matter much in this rivalry.  “When it comes to rivalry games you kind of throw those records out the window and no matter who's having a good season or quote unquote, bad season, that really doesn’t matter when it comes to the rivalry.  We've had a pretty good week of practice, the guys seem to be pretty focused and locked in on ending the season on a good note,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior won the first game, but only (56-49) at Pete Henry on January 9.

          Sykes knows the Rams are going to be ready to play.  “We expect they'll certainly come out playing their best basketball to end this season and I'm sure they would like nothing better than to spoil the end of the season for us and for them to get a win on their own court.  So, we're going to have to be ready to play, ready to step up and get us some momentum heading into the tournament,” said Sykes.

Published 2/15/2024

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Tygers Want to Carry the Momentum

          Mansfield Senior will be at home for New Philadelphia in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game set for Friday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          Last week, they downed West Holmes (65-60) in an “OCC” game on Friday night and then beat Columbus Bishop Hartley (52-50) in a non-league game on Saturday night.

          Although they were both wins, coach Marquis Sykes says their performance in those two games was dramatically different.  “We're always happy to get a couple wins, but Friday night certainly I was disappointed with our effort.  Our guys, and they admitted after the game that they just didn't play to the standard, didn't meet our expectations, and kind of went through the motions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I felt like Saturday we certainly came out and did the opposite, played to the standard and then met and exceeded expectations and played Tyger basketball.  So, all in all, we got a couple wins, one conference win on the road, and another big win at home against the number four team in the state.  So, a good weekend for us.  We were really just looking for, hoping for, like a signature win, something to give us a little more confidence just to let us know that we can play with anybody in the state and that's kind of what Saturday did here for us.  So, hopefully we'll ride the waves and continue to get better.”

          Mansfield Senior (14-5,10-2) puts out the welcome mat for New Philadelphia (10-7,7-5) on Friday night.  The Quakers fell (57-47) to “OCC” leader Lexington last Friday.

          Sykes says New Philadelphia has been a very good perimeter shooting team this year and they have to be improved defending those shots.  “That's been a weakness for us as a team.  They shoot, I want to say 41% from the three-point line and that's really good, especially for a high school team.  So, that's going to be our number one key making sure we guard the three-point line.  We are going to do everything in our power to try to speed the tempo of the game up.  At the end of the day, we have got to defend, we have got to rebound, we have to guard the three-point line and we have got to put the ball in the basket some ourselves,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior won the first game in this series (44-41) on January 5.

          Sykes says being at home, hopefully they make some more shots.  “We have shot the ball a little bit better at home.  So, we'll be at home, it'll be senior night, our guys last shot at that playing a regular season home game.  So, hopefully we'll come out flying around and playing our best basketball,” he said.

Published 2/06/2024

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Tygers Have to Rebound

          Mansfield Senior makes the trip to Lima Senior for an interesting non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          This game was supposed to be played 10 days ago when we had a brief snap of winter.

          On Saturday, Shelby smoked the Tygers (73-55) in a non-league game at Pete Henry Gym.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says the second quarter cost them.  “It was a tough loss against a really good Shelby team.  Really felt like we didn't play our best basketball.  Really, we just had a terrible second quarter and just absolutely that’s where the game slipped away.  We didn't close out that quarter very well and didn't do the things that we practiced and kind of got away from our script and that was really the difference in the game should have game should have been different, but it wasn't.  So, we'll learn from it and hopefully grow from it and be better,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (12-4) is at Lima Senior (8-6) on Tuesday night.  The Spartans beat Toledo Rogers (74-53) in a Toledo City League game last Friday.

          Sykes says this will be one of the best teams they play all year.  “Their record certainly doesn't show how good they are.  Their schedule is unbelievable, they have played so many top tier division I teams.  They've had some really close games and beat some really good teams and lost to some really good teams.  So, despite their record saying 8-6 this is this certainly one of the better basketball teams that will play all year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Great coach, one of the best coaches in the state, one of the best programs in the state.  We have got our hands full.  It’s going to be a really good non conference test for us.  Another measuring stick, another opportunity for us to get out there on the floor and get better and right some of our wrongs and clean up some of the things we need to clean up going into the tournament.”

          Sykes says on Tuesday, they are going to have to handle what they do.  “They want to get up and down the floor.  They are certainly going to come out and press from start to finish from end to end.  It's just like a mirror image.  They certainly want to play fast and pressure the basketball and get out in the passing lanes and do all of those things.  So, we have got to handle their pressure, we have got to play really good transition defense and going to have to rebound if you if you want to make this a competitive game,” he said.

Published 1/30/2024

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They Have to Play Tyger Basketball

          Mansfield Senior travels to Wooster to play an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night and they host Shelby in an important non-league game on Saturday night.

          They had been smoked (83-56) by “OCC” leader Lexington on Saturday night, but they beat Mt. Vernon (62-43) in a conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Maquis Sykes likes the way they responded.  “I was happy, I was certainly pleased with our effort because you just never know dealing with the teenagers how they are going to bounce back from a very poor showing.  Our guys came out with a chip on our shoulder and from the jump they were locked into the game plan and played Tyger basketball.  So, I was happy with their effort and really just happy to get back on track and make sure we can end this season the way we're supposed to,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (11-3,8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at Wooster (6-8,5-4) on Friday night.  The Generals broke a three game losing skid with a (57-50) win over West Holmes in “OCC” play on Tuesday.

          The Tygers won the first matchup (66-53) on December 22.

          Sykes says Wooster will play better this time.  “This is a conference game and we're going to their place, so we know for certain they're going to play better at home and they would on the road.  We know they're going to shoot it a little bit better at home and they do on the road.  We know they're going to get their best effort,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It's a strong physical group.  They have a couple guys that can score and put it in the basket.  So, it's going to have to be physical, we’ll have to rebound and really just we're going to have to play Tyger basketball.  That's really been our focus here this last week just getting back to the basics for us, getting back to being a little more disciplined and fundamentally sound and doing all of the things that we feel like Tyger basketball is doing those things.”

          Shelby (11-2), #2 in our poll, comes calling on Saturday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          Sykes says there is a lot riding on this one.  “Those local bragging rights.  We've started to play each other consistently over the last three or four years, so it's certainly a big game for Richland County, big game for district seeding and just bragging rights here locally.  All of these kids, they know each other just from playing travel ball together and that kind of thing.  So, it's just a little added motivation for the guys.  They'll get up and both teams will be ready to play, it'll be a good atmosphere in the crowd.  So, certainly I think both teams will be ready to get out there and get after it,” said Sykes.

Published 1/24/2024

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Tygers Have to Rebound

          The Ohio Cardinal Conference could all be decided on Friday night when Mansfield Senior is at Lexington to battle the Minutemen.

          Right now, the Tygers trail by a game and a loss pretty much gives the title to Lexington barring some pretty major upsets.  If Senior High wins, the race is on.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says these are the games you want to play in.  “It's this is going to be a great atmosphere.  It's the conference’s two leading teams right now, so it will be a really good atmosphere.  I certainly think both groups will be ready to put on their best display.  Hopefully, the Tygers will be fully ready and we come out on top,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (10-2,7-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Lexington (14-1,8-0), #1 in our poll, on Friday night.  The Minutemen beat Wooster (63-36) in a conference game last Friday.  They did lose their first game of the season (56-46) Sunday to Gahanna Lincoln at Ohio Dominican.

          Sykes says the Minutemen are decent outside shooting team, run the floor well and really stick you on defense.  “They're really good basketball team from top to bottom.  They don’t have a whole lot of glaring weaknesses.  They shoot the fairly well from perimeter, they have got some guys that that are streaky, but can definitely get it going at anytime.  Seven (Allen) can run off three or four in the row, Jakob Legron can run off three of them three or four in a row, (Elija) Hudson, those guys can fill it up, put it in the basket.  They're getting out in transition and running a lot now.  (Brayden) Fogle is a handful in transition.  They do a lot of things really well.  They crash the boards really hard on both ends of the floor, really solid defensively and force you to do some things that you don't want to do on the offensive side.  So, it's going to be a tough task force.  We've got our hands full.  We know it's going to require our best effort and our best game to beat those guys,” said Sykes.

          Lexington walloped Mansfield Senior (70-45) on December 12.

          Sykes says they have to rebound better and just want the ball more.  “We feel like, especially the last several years playing against Lexington the team that wins the rebounding battle, in general, is the team that wins the game.  So, that's going to be a major key for us.  We’re definitely going to have to do a much better job on the boards.  Last time, it felt like they were tougher than us, felt like they wanted the game a little more than us and felt like they just went after the ball with a lot more aggressiveness,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Those are some things that we've been working on since playing them first time.  I feel like we've improved in that area, but we'll know for certain come Friday night if we really improved in that area.  They'll let us know right away.  It won't be something that'll that won't jump out until the third or fourth quarter. It will be something that'll jump out the first possession.  If we're not strong in the paint, we're not boxing out, they'll go get an offensive rebound and they'll put it right back in the basket.”

Published 1/17/2024

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Mansfield Senior Playing with Energy

          Mansfield Senior, in second place a game behind Lexington in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race, plays at home against rival Madison in a conference game on Tuesday night.

          They play at Ashland to begin the second round of the “OCC’s” double round robin on Friday night.

          The Tygers (8-2,5-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat New Philadelphia (44-41) in an “OCC” game last Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says their pressure defense was the difference.  “We recognized going into the game that they are just extremely disciplined and play their style of basketball and they force other teams to do so.  We were able to make enough plays.  I thought we defended really well.  I thought we rebounded well enough.  We caused quite a few turnovers and I think that was probably the difference in the game,” said Sykes.

          The Tygers host they cross town rivals on Tuesday night.  Madison (1-9,1-5) lost to Wooster when Brady Bowen made two free throws at .6 last Friday night to give the Generals a (51-49) win.

          Sykes says he knows the Rams will play hard.  “I know that they're going to play extremely hard and then for us and more so recently we've really been kind of focused on ourselves.  I think we'll continue to kind of take that approach, at least the first half of our conference season,” he said.

          Mansfield owns a seven game winning streak and Sykes says their energy has been really good and they have been rebounding the ball better.  “We really take that approach I'm just focusing on ourselves.  We have got a few things that we need to tighten up, but like the fact that our communication defensively has been pretty good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We're rebounding better.  Our energy and effort has been pretty good and pretty consistent.  So, we'll stay on our guys about being focused on Tyger basketball and doing all the things that we need to do to become a better team day by day.”

Published 1/09/2024

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Mansfield Senior Wants to be Quick

          Mansfield Senior, a game behind Lexington in the Ohio Cardinal Conference race as we near the halfway point, plays at New Philadelphia against the Quakers on Friday night in league action.

          Last week, the Tygers (7-2,4-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat West Holmes (62-27) in a conference game last Friday and added a (67-53) win over Columbus South in a holiday tournament on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says good practices have led to good performances in games.  “We're really pleased right now, we’ve won six in a row.  Most importantly for us we feel like we're getting better day by day.  As coaches we talked (Thursday) after practice that we feel like we have had some really good practices and made a lot of progress in regards to paying attention to detail, kind of focusing in on some of the little things that that that kind of get swept under the rug sometimes when your winning games.  That's really been the focus for us and we’re getting better and certainly had a good weekend last week,” said Sykes.

          New Philadelphia (4-3,3-2) has been playing well too.  They had their chances in the end of the a (50-42) loss to unbeaten Lexington last Friday in league play.  The Quakers edged John Glenn (43-41) in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

          Sykes says it is going to contrasting styles when the two teams meet on Friday.  “This is going to be a big one for us with a conference game on the road.  New Philadelphia plays really well at home.  Certainly, there are going to be a contrasting styles.  They want to play a slower style of basketball really working basketball around the perimeter and looking to take the very best shot they could possibly get,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We're certainly going to try to speed the game up a little bit, but we recognize that in order to be a good team and be successful in this league you have to be able to adjust and play certain different types of styles basketball.”

          Sykes says they have to be able to execute when they have the ball in the half court.  “We’re going to have to be able to win with a grind it out style basketball game.  When we have opportunities to speed it up, certainly speed it up, but it'll be definitely interesting in regards to different styles and the whichever team executes their game plan the best is going to come out on top,” he said.

Published 1/05/24

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Mansfield Senior With Different Challenges

          Mansfield Senior, a game back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings, will host West Holmes in a conference game on Friday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          They will play Columbus South in a holiday tournament at Harvest Prep on Saturday.

          Last week, they beat Wooster (66-53) in a conference game on Friday night.

          However, coach Marquis Sykes says he wanted a more consistent performance.  “I thought we played pretty well for about two and half quarters.  I just didn’t like the way we closed out the game.  We’re plus 20 had an opportunity to really, really blow the game open and kind of let our foot off the gas pedal.  That's something that we have been focused on, working on, and I feel like we've got that corrected since that game over the last week of practice.  All in all our last weekend for us to come out with a couple of wins we were happy and excited and now just ready to continue on with the season,” said Sykes.

          They beat Columbus Eastmoor (83-59) last Thursday.

          The Tygers (5-2,3-1) host West Holmes (1-5,0-4) on Friday night.  The Knights lost (54-42) to Mt. Vernon last Friday.

          Sykes says their goal is to be a better basketball team after Friday night.  “It's going to be a tough, hard fought game, another conference game.  We have to take care of business.  We recognize they are just struggling right now.  We've really been focused on the things that we need to do in order to be a good basketball team.  So, like we continue to focus on those things and continue to get just a little bit better each week and sustain we feel like come the end of the season we will be a force to be reckoned with,” he said.

          When it comes to the Columbus South Bulldogs, Sykes says they will offer the kind of competition the Tygers are seeking.  “We usually get into these every year as a measuring stick.  It’s something that you know we look to schedule a really tough opponent, somebody that's going to be a little different than what we see week in and week out in conference and that's what Columbus South will bring.  A really athletic team, they have a few dynamic guards, really quick, really athletic,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They will challenge us in the full court.  They'll really look to attack in the half court.  So, it'll be a really good opportunity for us to play on the big stage down in Columbus at Harvest Prep against a really quality opponent.  So, great opportunity for us and our program and we just want to see if our guys step up and play Tyger basketball in an intense atmosphere.”

Published 12/29/23

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Mansfield Senior Faces Eastmoor and Wooster

          Mansfield Senior plays at Columbus Eastmoor on Thursday and at home against the Wooster Generals in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.

          The Tyers (3-2,2-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won a couple of games last weekend in beating Mt. Vernon (53-50) in an “OCC” game on Friday and Fremont Ross (52-45) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they were far from perfect, but they were good enough.  “We weren't 100% happy with the way we played either night.  Still lots to improve upon, but anytime you can come out of a double weekend with two wins we'll take it.  Then back into the lab this week to kind of correct some of those areas where we struggle and continue to build on some of those areas where we are strong,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior plays at Columbus Eastmoor on Thursday.

          Sykes says they have some outstanding guard play and a big kid that is making a difference.  “They have got two really good guards, they are dynamic that can really fill it up.  Both of their guards can fill it up from all three levels.  They can shoot it from deep, they can knock them down mid range and they can get all the way to the rim and finish.  So, we have got our hands full certainly with trying to contain those two,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They have a young big in the paint, 6’6” freshman, who's really athletic, really long, he's their rim protector and does some good things from defensively.  So, it's going to be a good a good matchup for us with a really tough, athletic group.  They're well coached and that's going to be a really competitive game I think.  We really feel like the team that plays the hardest and wants it the most and turns it over the least will be the team that comes out with the win.”

          They host Wooster (2-4,2-1) on Friday night.  The Generals beat West Holmes (72-55) in conference play on Friday and then fell to Richfield Revere (61-58) as part of the Steve Smith Classic at Orrville on Saturday.

          Sykes says they can’t let the Generals be more physical than them.  “They have got a guard that's filling it up too.  So, we're going to definitely have to be ready to defend our home court and not let those guys come in and knock down a lot of shots and be more physical than us and push us around.  They have got some good strong tough kids.  So, we're going to have to be strong, going to have to be physical, we’re going to have to win the rebounding battle and have to win turnover battle,” said Sykes.

Published 12/21/23

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They Have to Play Tyger Basketball

          Mansfeld Senior needs to bounce back after they were whipped by Lexington on Tuesday night as play at Mt. Vernon in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.

          The Minutemen blasted the Tygers (70-45) on Tuesday night in an “OCC” game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they got dominated on the boards and Lexington was just more physical than them. “Really the takeaways were things that we need to continue to work on focus on.  Really we just feel like we have to get a little tougher physically and mentally and kind of shore up some things in regards to rebounding.  Lexington pretty much physically beat us up and dominated us on the glass and that was the difference in the game,” he said.

          Sykes says they want to learn from the loss, but they don’t want to dwell on it either.  “It's something that you have to move past when you play bad games whether you win them or lose them.  When you don't perform the way that you foresee yourself performing it you have got to figure out a way to move past it.  That's really been part of our struggle since leaving Sandusky.  We didn't perform the way felt like we would perform going into the game and it's been difficult to get our swagger back so to speak,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “That's really our focus right now.  We're not as focused on game planning that we generally would be in regards to (Wednesday’s) practice and (Thursday’s) practice right now.  We're really focused on ourselves and trying to do everything we can to get our swagger back, so we can get back to playing Tyger basketball,”

          Mansfield Senior (1-2,0-1) travels to Mt. Vernon (3-1,2-0) on Friday night.  The Jackets beat Madison (52-50) on Tuesday night in conference play.

          Sykes says they want to play fast, but not too fast.  “We expect for those guys to come out and really try to control the tempo and then we'll be the exact opposite in regards to the tempo that we're trying to play.  So, it'll definitely be a game of styles and we'll see who can force their will on who and the team that does will be the team that that'll come out on top.  So, we're certainly going to look to continue to try to play fast and pressure defensively and push tempo offensively.  We really have to lock in on offensively when playing fast to slow ourselves down a step so that we can finish because that's been a major issue for us these last couple of games.  Just playing too fast and a touch out of control and that's been the difference in our shooting percentage I think,” said Sykes.

Published 12/14/23

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Tygers Start the Season With Ashland, Sandusky

          Mansfield Senior gets the opportunity to tip-off its basketball season this weekend as they host Ashland in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday and hit the road for Sandusky for a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they are ready for some competition that means something.  “Our guys are definitely tired of hearing us coaches yell and scream and talk and competing against each other every day in practice, but they've been getting after it with each.  At this point, it's really like okay let's get a another team in here and kind of gauge where we’re at,” he said.

          Ashland (0-1) lost last Friday to Norwalk (39-37) in what must be described as a defensive battle.

          However, Sykes says they have shooters.  “Ashland, they play really hard really hard and I wouldn't expect anything less with coach (Jason) Hess.  He always has those guys flying around and playing really hard.  They're always going to be a disciplined, well coached, group,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Despite the score, I know they can score a lot of points.  They have some guys that can shoot it.  They have got several guys that can put it up from the perimeter.  So, that's definitely going to have to be a key for us making sure we're guarding the three-point line and not allowing those guys to get a lot of open looks.”

          Sandusky (1-0) beat Elyria (76-63) last Saturday at Midview.

          They beat the Tygers in the division II district semifinals last March.

          Sykes says as always this will be a battle.  “Especially early in the season, this is one of those non conference games that's been a rival for us dating back early 90s we've been going at it with those guys.  So, that'll certainly be fun.  We expect it to be a pretty good crowd, it'll be a good hostile environment for us to go into.  Early in the season, we'll get to see a good gauge of kind of where we're at, what kind of conditioning where in and what kind of toughness we have,” said Sykes.

Published 12/06/23

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Mansfield Senior Getting in Shape

          Mansfield Senior has the talent to be a factor again in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          Their season beings on December 8 at home against Ashland in an “OCC” game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they have a bunch of experience this season and they have some very good talent too.  “Very much experienced.  We lost one senior last year in Chunky Haney and he certainly will be missed his offensive production and his ball pressure will be missed, but definitely have a core group of guys that have and some tournament experience and some regular season experience and have been around for a while and feel like they're pretty talented bunch,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Expectations are pretty high as always and we feel like we can have a pretty good season as long as guys stick to the script and take care of business and do the things that we ask them to do.”

          Sykes says they have had two looks against other teams in scrimmages this month and he kind of likes what he sees at this point.  “We've had a couple of scrimmages so far.  We got a bit of a late start with our football group going to three rounds in the football playoffs.  All in all, I like our energy and effort.  Certainly, have got to work on the execution part and some of the fine details of the game.  We certainly have got to get in better physical condition, but all in all at this point of the season we're okay with where we're at right now,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior, of course, plays at an up tempo game with the ball and likes to feature pressure on defense.  Sykes says they need to be in better shape if they are going to do that stuff.  “We need it, we certainly need it, so we're going to take full advantage and make sure our guys are where we need them to be in order to play at the speed and the pace that we that we'd like for him to play at,” he said.

Published 11/21/23

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Tygers Face Rival Ashland

          Mansfield Senior, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, hosts the Ashland Arrows at Arlin Field on Friday night in conference play.

          The Arrows are game back in the “OCC” standings.

          Mansfield Senior scored three times early and went on to pound Lexington (37-10) last week to take sole possession of the conference lead.

          Coach Chioke Bradley says getting a quick start was part of their game plan.  “We emphasized all week in preparation and even before the game that we wanted a start fast on those guys in all three phases offense, defense, and special teams and I thought our guys did a good job doing that,” said Bradley.

          They held the Minutemen to only 37 yards rushing and Bradley says they dominated the line of scrimmage.  “I feel like our guys did a really good job controlling the point of attack and dominating the trenches up front.  We have got some guys down there that take pride in being very chaotic at the point of attack and I think they did exceptional job doing that and controlling their run game,” he said.

          Amarr Davis has already broken two receiving records at Mansfield Senior and it about to break a third.

          Bradley says he is a special player. “Amarr is one of those talents that you only get every so often and it's fortunate for us that it's a blessing that we were able to get him and have him be a part of our program and grow up with these kids.  He's broken just about every wide receiver record that there is at Mansfield Senior High and that's saying a lot because we've had a lot of really good wide receivers come through Mansfield when you talk about the overall history of Tyger football,” said Bradley.

          Davis attends classes at Mansfield Christian, but is allowed to play football for the Tygers because the Flames don’t offer the sport.

          Mansfield Senior (4-2,3-0) plays host to Ashland (4-2,2-1) on Friday night.  The Arrows downed Madison (35-7) last week.

          Bradley knows they’re in for a game.  “It’s always a tough game, it's always a rivalry type of game.  We all want to bring our best and they want to bring their best.  Coach (Scott) Valentine over the years has done an exceptional job of coaching those kids up and having them ready to play,” he told Swankonsports.com, “He's a legendary coach you know at Asland and he's done nothing but really, really good things over his career there.  So, we have to definitely be ready to play football.”

Published 9/29/23

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Tygers Have to Make More Big Plays

          Mansfield Senior and Lexington share first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and they meet on Friday night at Lexington.

          The Tygers (3-2,2-0) took care of business last week by smoking New Philadelphia (35-14) in an “OCC” game.  Quarterback Duke Reese connected on three scoring passes.

          Coach Chioke Bradley says they did the job in all three phases of the game.  “I thought guys did an exceptional job of coming out and executing the game plan that we prepared for them all week.  I felt like defensively we were playing some bend, but don't break defense.  We knew New Philly was going to be a tall task.  They were coming into us 3-1 and they have played some really good teams that's a really good football program and coach (Mike) Johnson does a really good job with those with those kids.  So, we didn't take that game lightly at all.  I always say whenever when we can execute in all three phases of the game offense, special teams and defense, we're a tough team to beat,” said Bradley.

          Lexington (3-2,2-0) is on a three game winning streak after outscoring Wooster (42-27) last Friday.  They had two players run for over 100 yards last week.

          Bradley says they are young, but they are very talented.  “They do a lot of things well.  They have got a really good coaching staff over there that’s got those guys playing with a ton of confidence and they have got a lot of talent.  They may be young on the paper if you look in the program the guys that stand out for them are a lot of sophomores, a couple juniors and they had the right seniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “That sophomore class is extremely talented.  When you turn your tape on, they're just making plays all over the place.  They play the game the right way, which is hard and physical and fast, so it's going to be a great game.”

          Big plays are the big key on Friday night.  Bradley says they have to make more of those than the Minutemen.  “You have to eliminate those big plays.  For us, we want to limit their big plays and we want to create big plays offensively for us.  So, the game plan is just to come in and definitely try to eliminate their big plays with our defense and offensively we want to try to do the best we can to create those big plays with our athletes and just kind of go from there,” he said.

Published 9/22/23

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Tygers Have to Get Off the Field

          Mansfield Senior hosts New Philadelphia on Friday night in a key early season matchup in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          The Tygers last week outscored defending conference champion West Holmes (38-28) in their first conference game.

          At one time the Tygers (2-2,1-0) were up (38-14), but coach Chioke Bradley says they didn’t finish the game well.  “I thought we did a good job starting fast, but I didn't think we finished well.  We did not close out the game the way that I wanted.  We gave up some touchdowns late, we did not execute offensively late.  Against a good team down the road, even Friday against New Philly, against another really good team, you'll get beat,” he said.

          If you go by halves New Philadelphia is the “OCC” leader (3-1,2-0) after a (28-0) win over Ashland last week.  Etine Richardson ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns against the Arrows.

          Bradley says the Quakers are definitely a run first team.  “They run the ball really, really, really well.  They have a quarterback that runs the ball hard and fast and they have got slippery little running back that runs the ball fast, hard, they have got a humongous offensive line that is extremely physical,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Then the run fits they play you a 3-4 defense.  They don’t deviate off of their scheme defensively.  They are out of a football rich area of Ohio in Tuscarawas County over there with Dover and all that.  They play really good football over there and when you turn the tape on can see it.”

          Against a team like this, Bradley says first down is very important in order to put New Philly in down and distance situations they don’t like.  “Definitely, first downs and third downs are huge.  First downs are just as important as the third downs.  I know third down is the money down and you'd like to get off the field, but that first down is just as important as that third down because it puts them in the second and long situation and anything can go, but all in all you have got to play all four downs.  I know first and third are most important downs, but if you don't do the right things on second down it is what it is, but that first down is very important,” said Bradley.

Published 9/13/2023

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Tygers Can’t Give up Big Play

          Mansfield Senior has a huge task in front of it as they make the trip to Massillon on Friday night to play a non-conference game.

          Last week, the Tygers (1-1) beat defending division III state champion Canfield (24-14) at Arlin Field.

          Coach Chioke Bradley says that game was won in practice during the week.  “I just felt like we had a much better week of preparation.  In our practice our guys came to work with a purpose throughout the week.  We put a multitude different quizzes in front of them throughout the week and then Friday came around and when it was time to take the test they did really, really well because of the quizzes and their preparation throughout the week,” he said.

          Massillon (2-0) drilled Canton Glenoak (56-7) last week.

          Bradley says in every way possible this is just an outstanding team that they will be playing.  “They have got talent everywhere.  I mean this is arguably one of the best Massillon teams that I've seen under coach (Nate) Moore’s leadership.  They have a state championship caliber team.  They're big, they're physical, they’re fast and they make plays.  They have got two different quarterbacks, they run them both, they throw them both, they have got wide receivers that make plays in the air.  They have got a defense that's nasty.  I mean they have got everything that you need in order to be very, very, very successful and that's why they are ranked #28 in the country,” said Bradley.

          Massillon won (33-0) at Arlin Field on their way to a berth in the state semifinals.

          With athletes like this, Massillon is capable of a home run on every play.  Bradley says they must make them get their points by driving the ball.   “That is definitely something that we have talked about throughout the week and on Fridays for sure is eliminating the big plays.  It's hard to drive the field and not make mistakes in some kind of way.  A bad snap, a missed blocking assignment, a penalty here and there, whatever.  The big play is something that you want to eliminate when you're playing against a team of this caliber,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “That's definitely something that we have been talking about throughout the week.  We want to try to not just eliminate it, but minimize it.  We want to try to keep those big plays at the minimum and make them put together you know 15, 18, 20 play drives and do that sort of thing.  That's kind of what we wanted to do last week and it worked out for us.”

Published 9/01/23

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Tygers Looking For Leaders

          Mansfield Senior plays at Arlin Field for the first time this year on Friday night when they host the Canfield Cardinals in a non-conference game.

          Last week, they opened the season with kind of an unexpired performance in a (35-14) loss to Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary.

          Coach Chioke Bradley says they were not ready to play.  “I just didn't feel like we came with the right mindset and the right intensity.  We didn't match their physical play.  I didn't necessarily think that we practiced the way that we should leading up to that game and that was an emphasis that we talked about over the weekend and throughout this week,” said Bradley.

          Now, this week in practice things have been a lot crisper.  Bradley says they are looking for some leadership on this team.  “It has been light years better, it's been light years better.  We've been searching for some leadership with this bunch and we're trying to figure out who those guys are.  We have got a couple guys that's trying to fill that role.  I think our preparation this week was light years better than what it was last week.  We still have got to take the test on Friday so we'll see how its goes,” he said.

          Canfield (1-0) blasted Beloit West Branch (38-19) to open the season last Friday.

          The Cardinals are defending division III state champions, beating Bloom-Carroll (35-14) last December in Canton to claim the title.

          Bradley says they have reloaded and they will come right at you and be an aggressive football team.  “They know how to win.  They are defending state champs.  They lost a bunch of guys to graduation, but they'll are really good football program.  You have got a really good football program when you lose guys and you replace them all with really good football players and you don't skip a beat,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Then you watch them on tape, they aren’t missing much.  They are physical, they're very disciplined, they're well coached, and they don't make mistakes.  You very rarely see them make mistakes.  So, when they line up on you on all three phases of the game they're going to line up and they're going to come after you.”

Published 8/25/23

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Tygers With Tough Opener

          Mansfield Senior is probably playing as tough a non-conference schedule as any division III school in the State of Ohio, at least in the North Central part of the state.

          And it starts right away with a visit to Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary’s for a opening night contest on Friday night.

          Coach Chioke Bradley likes the improvement he has seen from his players heading into the opener.  “I am pretty good with where we are right now as a team.  We're not a finished product, so we still have got a lot of work to do.  Our kids know that and our staff knows that.  So, as far as that goes we are just going to continue to take it one day at time,” he said.

          They also play host Canfield and at play at Massillon before they start play in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          Bradley says with that kind of schedule, you have to take games one at a time.  “We've always been that type of team, that's been our personality since I have been here.  We don't get too high and too low about anything,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “The good thing is we get an opportunity to play the great game of football week in and week out.  We cherish that moment.  I'm saying as a coach that I look at every opportunity they step on the field as a teachable moment.”

          When it comes to Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary, Bradley says they will be a tough challenge because they are loaded with talent.  “They're a very well coached football team.  They are a big, they an enormous on their line, both offensive and defensive lines.  They have a tremendous amount of athletes at skilled positions.  So, they are a well oiled machine.  We don't schedule slouches.  Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary’s is a  really, really good football team and they've been really, really good the last few years,” said Bradley.

Published 8/16/23

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Big First Inning Leads to Ashland Win

          Six runs in the first inning paved the way for Ashland in a (7-3) win over Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Wednesday evening in a game played on turf at Ashland University.

          Arrows coach Rick Gough says that first inning, plus a solid pitching performance from Braiden Rhoades got them the win.  “We started out and we jumped out and scored six runs in the first inning and the kids responded to being off for a week.  Then we kind of sat on it a little bit.  It would be nice to keep adding on, but we didn't,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, “Our starting pitcher Braiden Rhoades did a nice job, threw a complete game, 96 pitches, I believe one earned run, so we did a nice job.”

          Mansfield Senior coach J.R. Davis says circumstances led to them not being ready for the game, but after that first inning they played well.  “After finding out very late that we were playing at Ashland University where we couldn’t wear metal cleats my pitcher was slipping on the mound, which led to a six run first inning.  When I switched to a pitcher with plastic cleats, we gave up one run the rest of the game.  We played very well and definitely getting better going into tournament time,” said Davis.

          Like many teams the Arrows haven’t played for a week and there was some rust, plus Gough says it wasn’t the easiest night to play baseball.  “Well, it's difficult for a couple reasons.  We sat for a week and to be honest with you (Wednesday) night wasn’t the greatest conditions to play baseball games.  I mean, I'm not sure how many other area games were played in the league, but it was kind of a tough night to play.  Ultimately, our kids responded and did what they had to do and we came away with the win,” said Gough.

          Baseball in Ohio is a shorter, but intense season and the tournament draw for baseball is Sunday.

          Ashland is division I and Gough says hey must start playing more fundamental baseball.  “We've got to be more consistent.  We've shown at times that we can be a very good ball team and we've shown at times other times that we're not a very good ball team.  It's just it's about being consistent and doing the little things that you need to win tournament games.  Being able to bunt, being able to sacrifice, being able to get a sac fly.  So, we are going to work on those things,” said Gough.

Published 5/04/23

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Lexington Takes Out Tygers

          Lexington made the short trip to Mansfield Senior on Tuesday afternoon and ripped the rival Tygers (11-0) in five innings in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.

          Big Lex coach Jeff Strickler says their pitchers were outstanding in allowing only three Tygers to reach base.  “We got really good pitching.  We only faced 18 batters, three over the minimum for five innings and had nine strikeouts and one walk and gave up a couple hits.  Colton Murfield and Landon Hamilton really threw well,” said Hamilton.

          Mansfield Senior had gotten a couple of non-conference wins over Orrville (13-10) on Friday and Crestline (13-0) on Saturday.

          Tygers coach J.R. Davis says they have to approach the “OCC” games with more confidence than they have been.  “We just have to have more confidence going into conference games.  Yes, every conference game of ours is going to be tough, but we can’t beat ourselves before the game even starts,” said Davis.

          Strickler says when the Minutemen got runners on, they got them in too.  “We got some good hits.  I’m not sure exactly how many we got,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win, “We made their pitcher work, we got some walks and we got a few guys on with an error, but we were able to get people around.  We didn’t leave very many very many people stranded.”

          They beat Bellevue (10-7) on Saturday and they host the Tygers on Wednesday afternoon and Strickler says he hopes they can get into a grove.  “That's what we're aiming for.  Just show up every day and be focused and ready to play that day and do the best we can to win the ball games,” he said.

Published 4/19/23

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Mansfield Senior With Young Kids

          Mansfield Senior will be trying to build with youth in its baseball program this year.

          Coach J.R. Davis says there will be a lot of young guys getting a chance to show what they can do.  “Well, I mean the nice thing is this is my third, my fourth year here, third year officially after COVID year with 2020.  I'm now getting the kids that started with me during middle school, they are now coming up and I'm going to have a ton of freshmen and sophomores that are probably going to make a lot of impact during the season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Oddly enough, no seniors, so that gives us two years basically to build up these guys.  The biggest thing for us this year is with us playing in the “OCC” that's the toughest thing is to build the program just because there's no off weeks in it for us.  Being able to just maintain the grind and maintaining you know building playing good baseball throughout the whole season and not being discouraged by some of the results we're going to end up getting.”

          Baseball is the kind of sport that can be every day and Davis says that means you have to be ready.  “That's the nice thing and the toughest thing too is that when you play every day.  You schedule all these games and then with the weather just like (Monday) it's just, it's bad.  So, you never know what you're actually going to play and so then towards the end of the season they start piling up and so you just have got to make sure that you're ready to go every day.  You're busting your butt now during preseason and everything and it's kind of getting monotonous right now, but once the games get going the season actually goes quickly.  Overall, it's a long term period of grinding out games and making sure that we get them in as well,” said Davis.

          They are supposed to start the season March 25 against Northmor in non-conference play.  Their first “OCC” series is March 28 and 29 against New Philadelphia.

          Davis says they have to keep these young kids engaged for the entire season, especially with the ups and downs.  “Our conference is so difficult that like we just don't get any breaks, there's no close games were like circle this one like, hey we can play this one. It's very difficult every program we play is a very, very good programs.  Non conference wise, I tried to schedule us more manageable games for us this year and I think that's going to really help us out long term wise with the positivity about the program within the team itself and the school as well,” he said.

Published 3/14/22

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Sandusky Outscores Mansfield Senior

          It was a game of spurts, but Sandusky spurted more and they beat Mansfield Senior (84-75) in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School on Thursday night.

          They will play Lexington, who beat Shelby (76-74) in overtime to win Thursday night’s second game, on Saturday afternoon in the district final.

          Sandusky coach DeMar Moore says the game was just like he thought it would be.  “It was what we expected, a fast paced game, high scoring game, both teams battled, both teams gutted, just a good game,” he said.

          The Tygers (17-8) raced to (13-2) lead in the game’s first four minutes, seven of those points coming from Kyevi Roane, but Sandusky found their game and battled back to tie the game at (19-19) after the first eight minutes, Blue Streak guards Daylen Green and Jason Henlon both had six points during that (17-6) run by the Streaks.

          Meanwhile, the second quarter was close and competitive throughout with neither team leading by more than four points.  There were nine lead changes and a tie during those eight minutes with Sandusky leading (39-35) at the half.

          Sandusky (23-1) built their first sizeable lead in the third quarter, going up 10 at (53-43) after a Chayce Garr three with 3:29 to play in the third.

          Moore says they just wanted to continue to play with energy.  “We just told them to stick to what we do and be who we are and continue to attack to continue to be aggressive,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Hopefully, they'll wear them out.  We didn't know what we were going to get as far as their conditioning, but we just wanted to keep going, keep going, keep going and then I think late in the second half they started to wear down a little bit.”

          In the third quarter, the Tygers put together another (9-2) run to get it to (55-52) with a 1:00 left in the third on a Duke Reese hoop and Sandusky held onto a (56-52) advantage after three periods.

          A (15-6) Blue Streak run to start the fourth quarter, as six different players scored for Sandusky, plus and 7-11 free throws in the final 2:00 gave the Streaks the win.

          Mansfield Senior coach Marquis Sykes was happy with the effort, but says his kids didn’t execute well enough for 32 minutes.  “We didn’t stick to the game plan enough.  Our biggest keys were, we wanted to cut down on dribble penetration and we didn’t do a great job of that.  We wanted to slow them down some in transition and didn’t do a great job of that either.  We wanted to make sure we shot well from the free throw line.  I haven’t seen the stat sheet yet.  We just didn’t execute our game plan well enough,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We played hard, we played with a lot of passion, a lot of energy, a lot of effort.  It just wasn’t quite good enough against the number one seed.  We have got to play better and we didn’t.”

          The Tygers shot 50% for the game (31-62), but only made (1-11) threes.  They made only 12 of 23 free throws.

          Sykes says they couldn’t maintain the way they started the game.  “They kind of got into the flow of the game and I think they may have wore us down a little bit even though I think they were wore down too.  Like I said, just didn't make just enough plays on either end of the floor.  We gave up too many straight line drives to the basket and gave up way too many offensive rebounds and few too many turnovers,” he said.

          Both teams like to pressure and force turnovers, but Thursday night, Sandusky scored 24 points off turnovers to just nine for the Tygers.  Offensive rebounds were a little tighter with the Blue Streaks gabbing 24 and Mansfield had 21 for the night.

          Sandusky featured balanced scoring Green had 21, Garr 20, Henlon 19 and DeMar Moore, the son of the coach, 13.

          It seemed Garr in particular had a number of baskets at key times and coach Moore says they count on that from him.  “Chayce is always solid, whether he's making shots or not he always does the right thing and makes the right plays and things like that.  I mean he's one of our senior leaders, we count on him, he's a captain, so I mean it’s just expected of him,” said Moore.

          Roane had 22 for the Tygers, while Reese and Ja’Ontay O’Bryant both chipped in with 12.

          It would be expected that the Blue Streaks would try to execute the same game plan against Lexington.  “I mean that's where we hang our hat on our defense and our transition game,” said Moore.

Published 3/03/23

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Mansfield Senior, Sandusky Game Should be Up Tempo

          Mansfield Senior challenges Sandusky, the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division champion, on Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School.

          The Tygers (16-7) advanced with a (64-59) win over Bellevue in a sectional title game at Bucyrus last Friday, securing the win by scoring the last five points of the game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they made the big plays when they had the opportunity.  “We made enough free throws at the very end, we got some very key defensive stops and rebounds and we're able to handle the basketball well enough against a different 3/4 court trap defense that they were using.  So, yeah we were excited and happy to come out with a win and another sectional championship for us and now we are on to the districts,” he said.

          Sandusky (22-1) got past Sandusky Perkins (67-60) in their sectional final at Bucyrus last Friday.

          Sykes says the Streaks are just very good and they need to be at the top of their game.  “Certainly, one of the better teams that we played this year.  They've lost one game all year, top five in the “AP” poll I believe, and the number one seed in our district.  So, all of the accolades that they've gotten have certainly been deserved.  DeMar (Moore) is district 6 coach of the year and they have got a couple players on first team district 6.  I'm sure there'll be a few more accolades are coming as far as All-Ohio and Northwest District and all that stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com, “So, we have got a really, really good team, fast, athletic, they shoot it well, they handle it well, they're pressure you, they'll get after it on both ends as far as rebounding goes.  So, we have got ours hands full, we have got to play a really, really, really good basketball game if we expect to even be close and be in the game.  So, if we expect to win the game we're going to have to really, really lock in on our game plan and do everything right.”

          Sandusky beat the Tygers (79-74) on February 4 in a non-conference game at Pete Henry Gym.

          Sykes says neither team is going to want to slow the tempo down.  “They would absolutely prefer that the game is up and down, up and down, and that would be the same for us.  We would certainly hope that we can get it to an up and down game.  On our end, we want to play fast on our end, but when we are sprinting back in transition defensively we want to make sure that we're doing some things to slow their transition break down.  It should be an up tempo fast-paced game, so it will be something that the fans will enjoy.  We're just hoping that we can slow him down a little bit and be on top by one point when the final buzzer sounds,” said Sykes.

Published 3/02/23

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Mansfield Senior Has to be Efficient

          Mansfield Senior meets Norwalk in a division II sectional semifinal on Wednesday night at Bucyrus High School.

          The winner will play Bellevue on Friday.

          The Tygers (15-7), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Lexington (54-53) in overtime in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          They have won five of their last six and seven of their last nine games.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they have been doing a lot of good things as of late.  “We certainly hope so.  We feel like we've been playing the right way over the last two or three weeks.  So, certainly wanted to develop some momentum going into the tournament.  I think we've done just that, so hopefully the guys are  locked in and then it recognize it's just a new season at this point.  Everybody 0-0 and we have got to take everything one game at a time,” he said.

          Norwalk (11-11), out of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, has been playing well lately too.  They have won five of their last seven.

          Sykes says the Truckers execute well.  “Well, we've seen them play a few different ways this year, but most of all they'll be really solid, really disciplined on both ends of the floor.  They are not going to make a whole lot of mistakes offensively or defensively and they're not going to beat themselves,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “This will be a game that we're going to have to come out and really try to speed them up with our pressure.  Make sure we're just doing the things that we that we preach and teach every possession, make sure we're crashing the offensive glass and just trying to wreak havoc and not allow them to run their sets and then run the offense that they run.  If we do those things we feel like well we'll be competitive and give ourselves a chance to win.”

          The Tygers always want to push the pace, but Sykes says they have to be ready to execute in the half court too.  “We are always looking to push tempo and get the game sped up, but at the same time we recognize that's definitely not what they're looking to do.  We may have to win this game playing a different style sometimes.  So, when that does happen, when the game slows down we’ll have to make sure we're executing in the half court and taking good quality shots.  When we those opportunities to speed it up make sure we capitalize on those opportunities and finish and then not trying to play too fast and make sure we convert all those opportunities when they do come,” said Sykes.

Published 2/22/23

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Mansfield Senior Looking at Game as Tune up

          Mansfield Senior has a chance to play spoiler when they face Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          A Tyger win means Lexington would have to share the “OCC” title with New Philadelphia.

          Last weekend, the Tygers beat Ashland (70-61) in an “OCC” game on Friday night and the got past Trotwood Madison (59-55) in overtime in non-league on Saturday night.

          Coach Maquis Sykes says they were pleased with their play.  “We were excited about our week last week.  Feel like we were still have room for improvement, but I feel like we're playing a lot better and it are trending in the right direction.  So, trying to tighten up a lot of the little things that we're continuing to struggle with and put a high emphasis on our defensive intensity and rebounding the basketball and all the basic fundamentals and we'll see how we can end this season on the right note,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (14-7,10-3) plays at home in Pete Henry Gym against Lexington (18-3,12-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Minutemen beat Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, (66-59) on Tuesday night.  They earned their share of the “OCC” title with a (73-50) win at Wooster last Friday.

          Sykes says Lexington gives them problems on the glass.  “For us this is going to be, I know it's a little bit cliché, and I'm sure you probably heard a lot with them, but rebounding and it's the biggest issue.  I often tell our team that basketball is it's not rocket science.  It's just pretty easy to scout teams and diagnose teams and then figure out what they're good at and what they're bad at, all of that kind of stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Once you get out there on the floor you really have got to execute and do things the right way.  If we can match their intensity in the rebounding category we'll have a game, we will have a game on our hands, but if they dominate us on the glass like they did the last time we don't stand a chance.”

          Lexington won the first game (57-53) on January 27.

          Being a spoiler is one thing, but Sykes says that is not heir major focus come Friday night.  “Our focus really has been on us trying to be trying to play the best basketball that we can play.  It will be our senior night, we want to make sure we send Chucky Haney out the right way.  This is a home game against our rival.  Then it’s a tune up for us going into sectional action against Norwalk.  So, we want to make sure we're playing the right way, doing the right things and that's just a little added bonus, a little extra incentive to see if we can kind of help New Philly out and let those guys get the share of the conference championship,’ said Sykes.

Published 2/15/23

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Mansfield Senior Must Beat Ashland

          Mansfield Senior faces a must win situation as they make the trip to Ashland for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          A loss will eliminate them from the league race.

          They beat Columbus Eastmoor (67-44) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they are making some moves in the right direction.  “We are playing a lot better.  I think our guys have really just bought into the concept of playing hard and not really trying to do too much and not turning the basketball over as much as you possibly can and just sitting down and playing a quality defense.  The next step for us is to become a good rebounding team so that will really need to focus these last, what have we have three games left, these last three that'll be our focus going into the tournament,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (12-7,9-3) plays at Ashland (6-14,4-9) on Friday night in “OCC” action.  Ashland beat West Holmes (50-46) in their last “OCC” game last Friday.

          Sykes knows the Arrows will play them tough.  “They are the real scrappy  group.  They've got shooters out there.  They handle the ball well enough and then coach (Jason) Hess always has those guys up especially when the Tygers come to town.  So, we know that we're going to be here for a dogfight it's never a route over there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We know we have our hands full and they knocked us off earlier in the season at our place, so certainly our guys remember that.  So, this is an opportunity for us to kind of mathematically stay in this conference race, I guess we never know what really can happen over these next few days and next few weeks, so we're going to be locked in and ready to play.”

          Ashland beat Mansfield Senior (52-49) on January 3.  Sykes says they didn’t play very well that night and will need to be a lot better on Friday.  “I rewatched the game again.  I watched it (Tuesday) night a little bit and on my lunch break (Wednesday) I watched them as well.  We didn't do very much well that night.  They played harder than us.  Felt like they wanted the game a little bit more than us.  I felt like our guys were going through the motions a bit and defensively we just weren't sound and we weren't all locked in and all on the same page.  We had some ill advised traps going on and just doing some things out of character.  So, really we're just trying to get everything in and then make sure everybody is on the same page so that we can give our best effort,” said Sykes.

          Sykes says it they expect to get a piece of the title, they are two games behind Lexington, they must win Friday.  “You never want to be in that position, but you also want to be in the position where as you win you have a shot.  So, that's really what we've been preaching.  Really just trying to stay focused on the next game and one game at a time and guys have really bought into that.  We met our first goal for this week and that was to go 1-0.  Our second goal will be to go 1-0 on Friday.  We are trying to put our best foot forward and trying to just stay on the right trajectory and playing good basketball heading into the tournament,” he said.

Published 2/09/23

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Mansfield Senior With Rival Rams and Talented Sandusky

          Mansfield Senior hosts arch rival Madison on Friday night in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game and Sandusky in a very interesting non-conference game on Saturday night.

          The Tygers fell two games behind Lexington in the “OCC” race after losing (57-53) to the Minutemen at Lexington last Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says Lexington dominated the boards and that was the difference.  “Our guys definitely played hard, so that wasn't an issue we just didn't rebound the ball the way we thought that we would have.  Our guys, the energy and effort was there, but just the execution as far as rebounding goes we got dominated on the boards.  Defensively, played pretty well I thought.  We played well enough, got enough stops, just couldn't finish the defensive possession with a rebound and gave up too many extra possessions, too many extra shots and that was probably the difference in the game,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (10-6,8-3) hosts Madison (8-9,5-7) on Friday night in an “OCC” action.  It is the second round of the “Battle of Mansfield”, the Tygers won the first at Madison (71-62) on December 30.

          Sykes says the Rams are very competitive.  “Madison's been playing pretty good basketball for the majority of the year.  I think lost quite a few really close games, which is just an indication of where they're at.  They're in pretty much every game that they play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “You look through their schedule and watch the films you are not seeing them getting blown out at all.  So, we expect those guys to come into Pete Henry and give us their best shot.  Then with this being our city rivalry, we know it'll be a pretty good atmosphere and we know the guys will be pumped up and ready to play on both sides. It’s really just going to come down and to execution part, whichever team executes their game plan the best it's going to be the one that comes out on the top.”

          Jayden Jeffries (23.5 ppg) is the Rams leading scorer and Sykes knows they are going to have to do their best to contain him.  “He's a serious scorer.  He put up 20 plus on us the first time that we played.  He's been a matchup problem for us for years now.  So, we have got to figure out some ways to just slow him down.  We know he's going to get his points, he's going to score because he is a scorer.  We have to slow him down and can't let him have one of those career nights on us,” said Sykes.

          Sandusky (16-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, the leader of the “SBC” Lake, comes to Mansfield on Saturday night.

          Sykes says they have great guard play.  “I haven’t spent much time watching tape on them.  We would generally try to put our focus on our conference opponents, especially with that being the first game up on Friday, but the little bit that I've seen of them mainly have really dynamic guard play.  They play really hard and DeMar Moore has those guys flying around and playing “Streak Basketball” like they used to in the 90s,” he said.

Published 2/01/23

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Mansfield Senior With Opportunity

          Mansfield Senior has a chance to grab a share of first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference when they play at Lexington on Friday night.

          They now share second place in the “OCC” with New Philadelphia, after the Quakers beat Lexington (55-53) on Tuesday night, a game behind the Minutemen heading into Friday night.

          The Tygers did their job by beating West Holmes (68-58) on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they picked up their play in the second half on Tuesday.  “West Holmes came out ready to play.  I thought we played a really good second half.  The guys stepped up and did the things we practice and they executed the game plan.  We were able to come out with a hard fought road conference win, which is always a good thing as we know in the “OCC” no matter who you are playing if you are not ready to play there is a possibility that you'll lose,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (10-5,8-2) makes the short trip to Lexington to play the Minutemen (13-2,9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. 

          This the first meeting of the season between the schools.  A game scheduled for Pete Henry Gym on December 23 was postponed due to cold weather.  It will be played on February 17.

          Sykes says the Minutemen are disciplined on offense and they get on the boards hard.  “There size and athleticism is definitely going to be tough for us to figure out.  They play so disciplined on the offensive end of the floor.  Their half court defense doesn't get talked about enough.  They're really solid in the half court.  They cause problems and they make it really difficult for teams to score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Most of all if you don't compete in offensive and defensive rebounding you'll probably get blown out, so that'll be a really big key for us to be able to rebound on both ends of the floor.  Trying to make sure we're getting good shots on the offensive end.  We're going to have to do our thing and play Tyger basketball and try to speed them up and turn them over as well.”

          Something that has been successful of the Tygers this season has been their pressure defense.  Sykes says they are going to have to make that a factor on Friday night at Lexington.  “That's always huge and in bold print on our scouting reports no matter who we're playing, so it will certainly be something that we're looking to do Friday night.  Hopefully, our guys come out ready to play and we can figure out some ways to speed those guys up and cause some turnovers and get ourselves a few extra possessions and few extra looks at the basket,” said Sykes.

Published 1/26/23

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Mansfield Senior has to be Solid

          Mansfield Senior, two games back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at home against Mt. Vernon in a conference game on Friday night.

          Last weekend, the Tygers hammered Wooster (76-50) in an “OCC” game on Friday and lost (65-61) in double overtime to Columbus Bishop Hartley in non-conference play on Saturday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they did a lot of good things against Wooster.  “I thought our guys did a lot of the things that we had practiced the week prior.  Our energy and effort was good.  We shot the ball okay and were able to get a good a good “OCC” victory at home.  It’s the first time in a while we swept Wooster in the season, so it's a big win for us,” he said.

          Sykes says they have been working on a lot of things to get better.  “We really have just been locked in and focused in on the basics, our defensive fundamentals and getting some feeling reps.  We've got some guys right now that are struggling with confidence and different things like that, so we've been trying to get up a lot of reps before practice, out of practice, during practice, 6:00 AM shooting, a lot of different things so that our guys can get their confidence, get their rhythm and make some more shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “ Always myself as a defensive minded coach just putting a lot of emphasis on all the little things defensively so we can be the best that we can be on the defensive end of the floor.”

          Mansfield Senior (8-5,6-2) hosts Mt. Vernon (6-8,4-5) in “OCC” action on Friday night.  The Jackets beat West Holmes (59-44) in their last league game on Friday night.  In their first meeting, the Tygers were the winners (73-57) on December 15.

          Sykes says Mt. Vernon always plays them tough.  He says they have to be fundamental in their approach.  “Coach (Nick) Coon always has those guys playing hard and playing the right way.  Whenever they play us, we seem to always get their best shot.  So, we know that they'll certainly be ready to play.  We just have got to make sure that our guys are locating shooters and knowing where the shooters are and most of all guarding the basketball and not allowing a lot of dribble penetration and just making sure we are being disciplined not getting out of position and gambling and reaching and jumping the shot fakes and all that kind of stuff.  We need to be solid and in the right positions and not getting beat off the dribble a lot we feel like we'll give ourselves a chance to win,” said Sykes.

Published 1/18/23

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Back to the Drawing Board for Tygers

          Mansfield Senior, now two games behind Lexington in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings, faces likely a must win at home on Friday night against the Wooster Generals in league play.

          The Tygers suffered their second straight league loss, and third overall, when New Philadelphia beat them (62-42) last Friday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says poor execution in the second half was their downfall.  “We played a really bad second half.  We started off the game the way we were supposed to.  We were pretty solid defensively for the most part and showed some patience offensively and we're able to get some good looks.  The second half, for whatever reason, we lost our discipline and just didn’t get the job done defensively and were kind of out of whack offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Overall, just a bad night for the Tygers, but back to the drawing board this week.  We have been working on some things and trying to correct some of our issues and hopefully we can bounce back this weekend.”

          Mansfield Senior (7-4,5-2) is at home at Pete Henry Gym for the Wooster Generals (5-8,3-4) on Friday night.  Wooster lost (78-63) to Shelby in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.  They have lost their last five.

          Sykes says they are still dangerous.  ‘They've been in several close games and this is a really strong, really athletic, tough minded group.  Coach (Michael) Snowbarger always does a good job with those guys and has them playing extremely hard no matter what their record is.  We know they'll come into Pete Henry ready to play.  They are certainly going to give us their best shot and we have just been preaching our guys to make sure we make sure we give them our best look as well,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior likes to pressure teams with their defense an so does Wooster and both team are strong in the offensive boards.

          Sykes says if Wooster can make shots they are going to be tough to beat.  “They'll look the pressure some and they're really big and strong so they'll look to play a little bit of bully ball, look to use their strength and athleticism and cause turnovers and really beat you up on the glass, beat you up on all the 50/50 balls and hustle plays.  When they're doing those things really well and shooting the ball well they're really tough to beat,” said Sykes.

Published 1/11/23

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Contrasting Styles With Tygers, Quakers

          Mansfield Senior, now a game behind in the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings, visits New Philadelphia for a meeting with the Quakers in a conference game on Friday night.

          The Tygers lost their first “OCC” game of the season when Ashland beat them (52-49) at Pete Henry on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says he didn’t not have them ready to play.  “Really, really disappointing loss for us on Tuesday night.  We came out flat, not ready to play, and I'll take the blame for that one because I have to do a better job of getting these guys ready to roll, especially in the situation that we're in.  We were tied for first place and have a conference game at home against a team we that we have a lot of history against should be a game that you would think we’d be up for it and ready to play, but we weren't.  So, lesson learned and we'll do a few different things if we need to make sure that the guys are motivated and ready to roll moving forward,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (7-3,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at New Philadelphia (4-3,4-2) on Friday night.  The Quakers beat Mt. Vernon (62-56) in an “OCC” contest on Tuesday night.

          The Tygers beat them (40-29) at home on December 20.

          Sykes says New Phily is starting to shoot better and they are going to be patient with the ball.  “They are a really solid basketball team, really disciplined, playing a little better now than they were earlier in the year.  It looks like they are shooting the basketball a little better.  We recognize that they'll be at home on Friday night, so that they would certainly expected them shoot the basketball better than they did the first time that we played them.  So, we have got to work cut out for us on the defensive end.  We have got to make sure that we're really soild and we're not doing a lot of gambling and reaching and fouling because they're just extremely disciplined on the offensive end.  They'll work and wait to take the shot they really want.  So, if we can be disciplined on both ends of the floor and do a good job rebounding on both ends of the floor and then focus on not turning the basketball over we can put ourselves in position to win the game,” said Sykes.

          There is no question the Tygers want to play faster than does New Philadelphia, but Sykes says they have to be smart about it.  “That's always the key for us.  We really no matter who we're playing against we're trying to get that tempo going.  Hopefully, our pressure can get the game sped up some.  We'll try some different tricks you know coming in and out of time outs and different things to switch up defenses that could keep them off balance and possibly get the game going and the speed that we like,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We also recognize just how disciplined they are and how difficult that is to do sometimes, so on the flip side we have to make sure that we're not taking too quick of a shot, especially after having to play a long defensive possession.  We have to make sure that we're valuing the basketball and not turning it over just so we are not giving them back the basketball right after having to play defense for a minute and half.  So, we just have got to be mindful of all of those things along with trying to speed them up and if we can do that we've got a shot.”

Published 1/06/22

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Mansfield Senior Has to Execute Better

          Mansfield Senior plays across town at arch rival Mansfield Madison in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game at Wayne E. Miller Gym on Friday night.

          The Tygers share first place with Lexington in the “OCC” standings.

          On Wednesday night, Mansfield Senior lost (86-73) to Shelby in a non-conference game.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they didn’t play very good defense.  “We were really disappointed with our defensive execution.  Anytime we give up almost 90 points to any team, no matter how talented they are, that’s unacceptable.  It felt like our guys kind of got caught up in the moment, the atmosphere, and started to revert back to some old habits and took some bad quick shots and essentially just wasn't fully locked in.  One positive was our guys definitely played hard just the execution wasn't there and we didn’t execute the way we need to in order to be to a quality opponent.  So, going to learn a lot from the loss and certainly try to move forward and get back to conference play,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (6-2,4-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at Madison (5-4,2-3) on Friday night.  The Rams have won their last three, including a (72-63) win over Ontario in non-league play on Wednesday night.

          Sykes says they play very hard on defense and have a couple of very good scorers.  “They play extremely hard and it's a really hardnosed, tough defensive team.  They have Seven (Allen), a young freshman who's playing lights out right now and of course Jaden Jeffries, one of the best players in the area.  He's filling the stat sheets offensively and rebounding,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “So, we have got our hands full.  Certainly, going to have to be much better defensively than we were Tuesday, Tuesday and Wednesday actually defensively, and pushing the pace and attacking the paint.  We feel like we can make it, but if we're not taking care of our business on the defensive end we are in for a long night.”

          It is the “Battle of Mansfield” and Sykes says they have to expect some intensity.  He says they must execute.  “That’s what we were missing on Wednesday night was the execution piece.  You certainly want your guys amped up and jacked up and ready to play, but we talk a lot about maintaining our discipline in intense situations.  We didn't read the bill with that part of our game plan Wednesday night.  So, we’ll continue to push that, continue to rep those types of things in practice.  With the way our schedule is set up, we'll be playing in more intense basketball games.  So, we'll get a lot of work at that throughout our conference schedule, non-conference schedule, and hopefully be ready to roll come tournament time,” said Sykes.

Published 12/30/22

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Mansfield Senior Wants a Track Meet

          Mansfield Senior entertains Lexington in a battle of co-leaders in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night at Pete Henry Gym.

          Lex is unbeaten and the Tygers have won their last five, including a (40-29) win over New Philadelphia in “OCC” action on Friday night.

          During this win streak, Mansfield Senior coach Marquis Sykes says they have been able to execute against all kinds of styles.  “The way our league is set up we have really quality coaches and quality programs.  All these coaches do a great job, but we also have a quite a few different styles that we have to face throughout the year.  So, that's a good thing for us and then our non-conference schedule, we try to make sure we schedule stylistically a bunch of different types of teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Rossford posed a really big challenge for us because they were very disciplined, very big, very athletic, shooters, and playing very controlled style of basketball.  So, it was a tough task for us and something that I felt like will help us in our preparation.  I feel like it did help us prep for New Philly and also help us in our prep for Lexington.”

          Mansfield Senior (5-1,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Lexington (6-0,4-0), #1 in our poll, on Friday night.  The Minutemen beat New Phily (51-46) last Friday and added a (66-57) win over Marysville in non-conference play on Saturday night.

          Sykes says Lexington has a balanced team.  “They are big, strong, athletic.  They have one of the best freshmen in the country and one of the most underrated bigs and in the state.  They've got some quality guard play, they are well coached.  In our conference one of our conference rivals for years now.  So, it's going to be a big test for us.  Hopefully, we get the opportunity to play in and get another opportunity to step out there on the floor and get better and kind of see where we're at in this conference race right now,” he said.

          Sykes says they want to make this their kind of game by getting the tempo going and trying to keep Lexington off the glass.  “Definitely going to have to match their physicality and not allow them to dominate us on the boards.  Then also we're going to have to make sure we try to speed the game up and not allow him to just run their sets and pass the ball around the perimeter and put the ball inside and score a will all night.  We are going to have to make the game ugly and get up and down the floor and try and to turn this into a track meet Tyger style,” said Sykes.

Published 12/22/22

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Mansfield Senior Growing Quick

          Mansfield Senior coming off of two impressive wins, plays host to West Holmes in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          The Tygers belted previously unbeaten Mt. Vernon (73-57) on the road on Tuesday night.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they were able to make their pressure defense successful and they won the rebounding battle.  “We were happy with our performance overall.  I felt like we came out of a little slow and in the first half, but were able to pick things up in the second half and cause some turnovers.  Defensively, we did a nice job on the boards and shot selection was pretty good in the second half and we were able to make some shots.  So, starting to feel like we starting to put things together and starting to get in better shape and starting to look more like a pretty decent basketball team,” Sykes.

          After they played very well over their last two games, Sykes says they really have to strive to continue to improve.  “That's the plan.  We talked about really just trying to improve just a little bit everyday in everything that we're trying to do.   So, like we've done a pretty solid job of building our foundation and our fundamentals and our basic stuff and this week we started to add a little bit more.  A few more wrinkles on the defensive end and a few more wrinkles on the offensive end.  So, the plan is just to really try to get a little bit better each day and add a little more to our arsenal and then hopefully towards the end of the year we'll be playing some meaningful games,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (2-1,2-0) plays host to West Holmes (0-5,0-3) on Friday night.  The Knights lost a tough one (44-42) to Wooster in conference play on Tuesday night.

          Sykes says the Knights are going to give a lot of effort and the strategic goals for his team remain the same.  “They're going to come in and they're going to play hard regardless of their record.  If we are not ready to play it's certainly a game that we can lose, so we're going to have to do the things that we're good at,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We're going have to make sure we are winning the rebounding battle.  We would have to make sure we're playing harder than them.  We're going to have to put heavy, heavy, heavy pressure on the ball handlers and try to put a big effort into speeding them up and turning them over and getting the game and to go in our favor and in the way stylistically that you want to play.”

Published 12/16/22

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Mansfield Senior Must be Physical

          Mansfield Senior is licking its wounds after its first game, but they expect to be better when they travel to Wooster for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.

          They were manhandled (70-39) by Lima Senior on Tuesday night in non-conference action.

Coach Marquis Sykes says they were not ready to play.  “I kind of knew what we were going to get actually just being with our guys at practice and knowing the task that we had in front of us and just knowing that we weren’t really prepared.  Just not enough practice time with our full squad.  I was disappointed with how our guys fought.  I don’t think we had just enough fight the way a traditional Tyger basketball team would fight,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I knew the execution wouldn’t be there, it would be a little sloppy, but I just felt like we didn’t fight.  I put some of that on myself because we didn’t have them fully prepared like we need to.  It won’t happen again and I am certain that our guys will fight be ready to give every thing we have on Friday night against Wooster.”

          Sykes says when you get beaten like that you want to come out in your next game and respond.  “We are hoping that that is the effect that it has.  It was certainly a humbling experience for our coaching staff.  We are hoping that the players are humbled as well and we get that chip back on our shoulder and we can get out there and play some Tyger basketball moving forward,” he said.

          Wooster (1-2,1-0) beat Madison (54-53) last Friday night in their first “OCC” game.  They lost (47-42) to Dover in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Sykes says Wooster has can shoot it, they are athletic and most of all they physical and he says they have to match that physical nature.  “Well, they have some shooters, they have good size and good strength.  They have aggressive, athletic kids.  They can cause some problems if we don’t match their physicality, so that is going to be the big key for us is really to step up and play strong and make sure they don’t push us around on their home court,” he said.

Published 12/08/22

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Mansfield Senior Assembling the Pieces

          Mansfield Senior still has some time before they start the boys’ basketball season and they are attempting to put their pieces together for this winter.

          Their first game will be December 6 at home against Lima Senior in non-conference play.  They open the Ohio Cardinal Conference portion of their season December 9 at Wooster.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says the preseason has been a blend.  “It has been an interesting preseason for us so far.  We certainly got a late start with the football crew.  We didn’t have them the majority of our preseason.  We were able to do some scrimmaging with those guys and really felt that core group of four varsity players and four JV players were really able to improve a lot and develop some skill and really pick up on the things we were trying to learn, which is a good thing,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We get our second preseason where those guys that played football started out back in the basketball gym this Monday.  We gave those guys about a week off.  We wanted to respect their bodies and let them have some recovery time.”

          Right now, Sykes says they are trying to get in the best basketball condition they can.  “We have been at it pretty hard this week trying to get our bodies ready and get their legs in basketball shape.  Just kind of connect the dots and get everybody on the same page and going in the right direction.  So far, so good and I have been pleased with the guys energy and effort and how they have been coachable.  They really look like they are improved and respect the basketball team, so I’m happy so far,” he said.

          With some younger players getting a lot of scrimmage minutes, Sykes believes that is going to help them in the long run be a better basketball team this season.  “We certainly hope so.  Some of those guys got some quality scrimmage time against some quality varsity programs.  We certainly feel that well help them along the way as far as their development and being up to speed with the varsity game and all of that kind of stuff.  It was valuable experience for those young guys.  It was also valuable experience for those guys that returned, who will need it to be in shape and get up and down and compete against people other than Tygers.  It was a good experience all around I think for everybody,” said Sykes.

Published 11/25/22

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Tygers Have to Stop Big Play

          Mansfield Senior tangles with Parma Heights Holy Name in a division III regional semifinal on Friday night at Brunswick High School.

          The winner will face either Parma Padua or Norton in a regional final next week.

          Last Friday, the Tygers shutout Defiance (16-0) in a quarterfinal.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they were all over the field on defense and made some big plays on offense.  “That was a really physical game.  We knew it was going to be physical going in.  These guys were tough kids.  They play in a tough conference with St. Mary’s Memorial, Van Wert, Celina, Wapakoneta, there is just some really tough teams in that league.  They came down here and they fought.  I was just really proud of how tough and physical our kids were.  Defensively, we were just all over the place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “This is the best we have played and I am glad we are peaking at the right time here.  Offensively, we had a 99-yard drive.  I thought that was crucial.  That put us up 14-0 at halftime.  Then we were able to get a safety there in the third or fourth quarter to kind of ice it.  So, it was a good win all around.”

          Mansfield Senior (10-2) plays Holy Name (9-2) on Friday.  The Green Wave beat Lutheran West (20-10) last week.  They own an eight game winning streak, same as the Tygers.

          Adams says Holy Name quarterback Jayvon Williams is an outstanding player.  “Their quarterback is phenomenal.  He is just a really good athlete.  They have a great offensive line, a good running back, and they have some skilled receivers.  Their defense is good too.  They have played some tough teams as well.  They played Clyde.  I think they lost to Clyde 20-17.  They play Padua, which was a team we played last year week two of the playoffs.  They have got a tough schedule.  Their kids are tough.  Elyria Catholic they played, who played Clear Fork last week.  They are fast, they are athletic and they are physical, much like us.  It is going to be a good contest,” said Adams.

          If he had to say, Adams says Holy Name compares favorably to Ashland, a team they play every year in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.  “I think they remind me of Ashland a little bit offensively with the way they do some things.  They sure do run the ball well.  They have a great back and a great quarterback.  Then their defense is similar.  I think they are a lot like an Ashland team.  Very well coached, very disciplined.  Just looking forward to getting after it again on Friday night,” he said.

          Adams says they have to be able to contain the Green Wave big plays and they must continue to be able to run the football.  “I think from the defensive standpoint we have to stop #8, the quarterback.  We have to limit big plays from him.  He is going to get some yards, but we have to limit big plays and tackle well and tackle #4 as well.  Then when they do go to pass, we have to defend the pass and not get out of position.  Offensively, I think it boils down to being able to run the ball.  How well can we run the ball against this front.  I think with Mekhi Bradley back there at the H-back and a couple of different running backs has really made a world of difference in us running the ball.  I feel like we can do that this week as well,” said Adams.

Published 11/08/22

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Tygers Must Stop Defiance Run

          Mansfield Senior plays host to Defiance in a division II regional quarterfinal on Friday night at Arlin Field.

          They destroyed Ontario (38-0) in their playoff opener last week.

          Defensive coordinator Sean Adams says they dominated the game on defense.  “It was a great team effort the offense, defense, special teams.  Keontez Bradley takes an interception for a touchdown that kind of set the tone the second play of the game.  From there we just rolled.  We were able to stop their run game.  It was good to be able to be out there tackling.  I think we forced five turnovers.  At halftime, Bodpegn Miller was 1 for 6 with four interceptions.  So, I thought that was pretty good.  It was just a good game in our favor.  We are happy to win and now we are happy to host against a very, very physical Defiance team,” he said.

          Defiance (7-4), out of the Western Buckeye League, won at Cloverleaf (63-28) last week. 

          Adams says they are very fundamentally sound team that isn’t going to make many mistakes.  “They are really fundamentally sound on defense.  They don’t do a whole lot, but they just try and beat you with fundamentals.  They have two great inside linebackers, kind of a bigger kid that is at the nose.  They don’t really slant like we do, but they move a little bit.  Their secondary is good.  So, offensively we are going to have to be able to run the ball and pass the ball.  So, nothing changes as far as that is concerned,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Offensively, they feature two great running backs in #27 and #24 and they run hard and they are extremely physical backs.  The quarterback has a good arm.  #41 I really like him as a receiver.  They have some athletes and they have some tough guys.  It is kind like an old blue collar, backyard, donnybrook between Defiance and Mansfield and we are looking forward to it.”

          Adams says they have to be good tacklers and the Bulldogs are tough to tackle.  “#24 does such a good job of getting north and south as soon as he finds a crease and he runs really low and his knees get high and he is really hard to tackle.  He is only 6’1” and 180 pounds, but he is just one of those guys that is hard to tackle.  Their offensive line does what they do for him and other back blocks well for him.  They try and out formation you with several different looks.  They want to come in and say we want to run the ball and this is what we are going to do.  Hopefully, we will be able to stop the run like we did last week,” said Adams.

Published 11/02/22

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Mansfield Senior Faces Physical Ontario

          Mansfield Senior, the runner-up in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, faces surging Ontario, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, in a first round playoff game in division III on Friday night.

          The Tygers (8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, closed out the regular season with a (37-17) win over rival Madison in “OCC” play last Friday.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they got it done playing a lot of young kids.  “I think we started off a little slow, but we picked it up.  We had some guys that weren’t playing.  We had the opportunity for some younger kids to get in there and make some plays and get some experience and kind of build on some things for next year even.  I think that is one of the positives about being able to play in the playoffs is you get an extra week of practice and sometimes two and sometimes three and we were fortunate to get five extra weeks the one year.  So, coming out of Madison we feel good.  We are back to full strength and we look forward to playing at Arlin Field again against a very good Ontario football team,” said Adams.

          This is the first ever meeting between the neighboring schools on the gridiron.

          Ontario (6-4) scored in the final 30 seconds of the game last week to edge Shelby (35-28) in an “MOAC” game.

          Adams says the Warriors can run it and pass it and they are going to have to be very sound on defense to get the job done.  “I think that the big thing is they want to get up there and use that big offensive line and they want to use those big backs and try and run the ball.  I don’t think it is any secret that they probably want to keep the ball out of our hands and try and just grind out first downs. They don’t mind winning that way and coach (Aaron) Eckert, or whoever called the play last week, that was heck of a call there against Shelby with :27 to go to win it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We have to be careful of a lot of things.  I just think that this week we have concentrated on just being sound against the pass and being sound against the run and taking care of what we can do and tackle well, get to the ball and get off blocks.”

          First down is going to be important for the Tyger defense on Friday night, but Adams says that is the case every night.  “I don’t think it is just Ontario, we try and win first down against everybody and I think that is crucial.  At second and three, now they have kind of got you, they could do a little bit of run or they could pass it.  With Bodpegn Miller and the two running backs that they have got they are capable of being explosive and scoring on any down they have got.  So, we have to be really sound in our coverages and sound in our run fits and be ready to take on Ontario at Arlin Field Friday night,” he said.

Published 10/27/22

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Mansfield Senior Wants to be Physical With Madison

          Mansfield Senior plays across town on Friday night against the rival Madison Rams in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.

          The Tygers (7-2,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, has won their last five, including (35-0) over Mt. Vernon last week.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says on defense they were pretty solid, but again they left too many points on the field.  “It was good to get another league win.  I think defensively we were able to settle in and kind of hone in on what they want to do.  Once that happened and we took that away, there wasn’t much more they could do.  Offensively, I thought we played well.  We ran the ball well again and made some key passes.  I think we left some points on the field too.  I think we had a punt return called back, we had a pick 6 called back, and I believe there was another touchdown of some sort that was called back.  So, we can’t afford to leave those points on the field,” said Adams.

          Madison (1-8,1-5) lost (28-10) to Lexington last week.

          They have a new coach in former Ashland head coach Scott Valentine.  Adams says the Tygers have had some great battles over the years with coach Valentine.  “It is not really a new regime.  We have had some great battles with coach (Scott) Valentine over the years and his staff.  I think a lot of those fellows are with him.  It has been a real joy in my career at least that we have been able to coach against some great coaches and coach Valentine is one of them.  We have had some great battles.  I don’t think that just because he is at Madison now instead of Ashland that that is going to change,” he said.

          Adams says when it comes to game plan, you are never sure what you are going to get form Valentine and his staff.  “They always come at us with some stuff that makes you ponder what we are going to do against it.  There has been a lot of discussion on should we do this or should we do that.  We don’t know exactly when they are going to come out with because every time we have played them it is something different.  So, we have a tremendous amount of respect for coach Valentine and his staff and Madison.  Our kids are hungry.  They want to beat Madison and move on to next week on a high note,” he said.

          Even this year at Madison, Adams says the Rams have shown a lot of looks on offense.  “They get under there and they like to run the ball some with their running backs, they have a couple.  They run a jet sweep.  Their quarterback throws a nice ball and what he is able to do to make some runs.  They run a little zone read with him and you have to be disciplined on the back side.  They just have a couple of different ways they can exploit you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have to play sound fundamental defense.  Once we do find the ball we have to arrive with bad intentions and hit like we have never hit before.  That is something we are really trying to strive for is to really hit this week, so we can carry that on to the next and see what happens.”

Published 10/21/22

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Mansfield Senior Hosts Mt. Vernon

          Mansfield Senior, in second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will entertain Mt. Vernon Yellow Jackets on Friday night at Arlin Field.

          They beat Wooster (31-11) in “OCC” action last Friday at home.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they forced four turnovers and that was key in the win over the Generals.  “The offense ran the ball good and we made some key passes when we needed to.  Defensively, we created four turnovers, two fumbles and two interceptions, and one back for a touchdown.  Sean Putt had the four field goals.  Overall, we did good as a team.  We talked Saturday morning that we need to finish drives with touchdowns as we move closer and closer to the end of the season and hopefully that is something we can get rectified,” said Adams.

           Quarterback Duke Reese ran for 103 yards and threw for 132 yards in the win over Wooster.

          The Tygers (6-2,4-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, have won their last four games and Adams says they are playing solid complementary football right now.  “I think the biggest thing that I have seen over the last couple of weeks is the offense and defense are kind of complementing each other.  We stop the run, we run the ball, we are physical on both sides of the ball and that is just our kids of identity.  To complement each other like that makes for a good football team, in my opinion,” he said.

          Mt. Vernon (1-7,0-5) was waxed (35-0) by Madison last week in conference play.  The Jackets have lost seven in a row.  Their only win coming week one in overtime (28-21) over Marion Harding.

          Despite the lack of success on the scoreboard, Adams, the defensive coordinator, says they do a lot of good things when you see Mt. Vernon on film this year.  “It is kind of the same thing that they did last year offensively.  They run a version of the wing-T where they block down, block down, kick out, lead of through with guards.  They run a little power and some jet.  They try and get you in some formations.  They have some nice kids with #44 Jonny Askew and #15 and a running back, I think his number is 32.  They have some players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I just don’t know why they can’t put it together.  I watch their offensive line and they block down and do everything they are supposed to and it looks very sound to me.  They just aren’t getting the job done.  Hopefully, we can continue to get better and put some pressure on them with our defensive line.”

Published 10/11/22

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Tygers Have internal Focus

          Mansfield Senior, still a game behind West Holmes in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at home against Wooster in a conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, they produced a goal line stand in the final seconds to hold off Ashland (27-20) in “OCC” action.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams they played disciplined football when called upon to do so.  “I said last week when we play Ashland, you have to be prepared for everything.  I thought out kids did a fantastic job of improving form the week before, especially our talking.  I was really pleased with how disciplined we were.  They were things that really won of the game, I feel, like staying deep.  We did exactly what we were asked to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I just thought that was pivotal towards our success.  I think the kids kind of thrived on playing defense with their backs against the wall.  We kind of grew up that way.  We came out swinging and to see them conquer adversity was probably one of the happiest bunches I have ever seen after a win.”

          Mansfield Senior (5-2,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Arlin Field against the Wooster Generals (4-3,3-2) on Friday night.

          Adams says they are talented once again and he adds they always seem to have a lot of experience.  “Every year that we play Wooster it is always a fantastic game.  They have athletes all over the place.  Every year I see this, where do they get all of these seniors?  They have more seniors than Carter has liver pills and every year we get more and more and more and this year is no different.  They do have a few sophomores playing.  Wooster has got a great running back.  I like the Snowbarger kid at quarterback.  I like #13 as a wideout, #0 as a wideout.  We are just going to have to play disciplined football this week to have success,” said Adams.

          Mansfield Senior needs help form someone else to get a piece the “OCC” title, but Adams say the only thing they are thinking about is beating Wooster.  “We are concentrating on us and let those other chips fall where they may, but we have to worry about getting better (Wednesday) and we have to worry about getting better Thursday and then we have to worry about getting better Friday from last Friday.  That has no bearing on what West Holmes and Ashland do or anybody else in our region.  We have to take care of the Tygers.  We have done that and we will do that.  We are looking forward to playing a Friday night football game at Arlin Field,” he said.

Published 10/05/22

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Mansfield Senior Must Defend a lot of Things

          Mansfield Senior, a game back in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at Ashland in pretty big game on Friday night.

          Actually, right now, the Tygers (4-2,2-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, and Ashland share second place with Lexington a game behind West Holmes.  The Minutemen and the Knights also play on Friday night.

          Last week, the Tygers demolished Lexington (41-0) in an “OCC” game.

          Defensive coordinator Sean Adams says they did very good things, but there are also things to work on.  “Well, it was good to get another win in the league and against our rival.  I think Duke Reese played well and Amarr (Davis) and Nate Dismuke and Keontez (Bradley).  Defensively we did what we needed to do.  I wasn’t particularly happy with everything we did defensively.  I didn’t feel like we were physical enough, didn’t feel like we tackled well enough.  If we are going to continue to win, we are going to have to those things,” said Adams.

          He says there was a pretty good background story to their first score on the night last week involving senior Aaron Thornton.  “Aaron has played for us the last four years.  We kick off and he strips the ball on the opening play and his dad just happens to be in the end zone.  His dad has suffered and brain aneurysm three years ago and it was just lucky that he was there and got to witness that.  It was just a special, special thing to witness that,” he said.

          Ashland (4-2,2-1) smoked Madison (49-14) in “OCC” play last week and the Arrows have won four of their last five. 

Adams says when they play Ashland it’s always competitive.  “Well, they are always good.  Ashland is always good in my opinion.  It is always a tough task to prepare for them.  They always seem to get us with something we are not prepared for,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “That is a credit to their coaches and to the kids and the way that they execute.  It’s Ashland and I think we can throw out the records whether they have won four out of five or zero out of five.  It’s Ashland-Mansfield and it’s at Ashland High School.  It is the kind of a Friday night that we always look forward to.”

          The week before, the Arrows put 53 on the board against Mt. Vernon.

          Adams says against them, you always have to be disciplined.  “They have playmakers all over the place.  I really like the quarterback they have in there in (Landon) McFrederick and the (Jonathan) Metzger kid and then you have (Cayden) Spotts running it.  There defense has been a little more aggressive than it has been the last few years.  I just think offensively they get you in so many formations to try and find a way to exploit you.  We are just going to have to play disciplined football and go over there and be physical, tackle well, and let’s go play another Friday night football game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference,” said Adams.

Published 9/29/22

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Mansfield Senior to Play Confident Lexington

          Mansfield Senior plays rival Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night at Arlin Field.

          It’s a critical one for the Tygers because a loss would drop them two games behind the Minutemen.

          They beat New Philadelphia (21-10) in an “OCC” game last Friday to break a two game losing streak.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they made some big plays at the end, but they have got to score when they get down close.  “We got some stops and the offense made a gusty call.  We can always count on Ammar (Davis) and Duke (Reece) to make the play and kind of seal it. We got inside the five yard line two and maybe three times and didn’t get any touchdowns, so it should have never even came down to that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I say that just because if we are going to continue to beat Lexington and Wooster or whoever is next on our schedule, we have to score points and we have to score points or touchdowns when we have the opportunity.  I think that is something that we have really impressed on our kids this week is we have to score touchdowns, especially when you are inside the five-yard line there is no excuse for not getting your feet behind you and getting cocked and getting off the ball and making stuff happen.  We have stressed that.  We are looking forward to playing our rival Lexington on (Friday) night.”

          The Tygers (3-2,1-1), #5 in the Swankonports.com football coaches poll in large school division, hosts Lexington (2-3,2-0) on Friday night.  The Minutemen rallied from two scores down to beat Wooster (22-20) last week.

          Adams says to straight wins has given Lexington a lot of confidence.  “They are 2-0 in the league.  Confidence is a powerful thing.  They have some confidence and they should that was a heck of a win for them last week.  They kept fighting and A.J. Young made a lot of plays and their special teams.  When you get confidence a lot of things can happen, especially when you are dealing with 15, 16, 17, 18-year-old kids.  They have the confidence, they have the momentum and that’s all you needed,” he said.

          Lexington’s offense has evolved a little this season.  Adams says they are finding different targets.  “I don’t want to say they are throwing it more.  I think they are utilizing the (Brandon) Fogle kid a lot more than they did earlier on.  He is a 6’5” freshman that is athletic and somebody that we really have to keep our eyes on.  I am not saying they are just going to line up in empty or spread and try and throw they ball around, but they do try and keep you honest.  They get in two backs or they get in spread or trips and they just try and get you in some different looks.  Our guys have to be sound in the way we are lined up and let’s just go play football at Arlin Field,” said Adams.

Published 9/23/22

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Mansfield Senior Prepares for New Philadelphia

          Mansfield Senior faces an important road game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night as they make the trip to New Philadelphia.

          They were buried last week by defending conference champion West Holmes (37-7) on Friday night.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says there were a number of factors, both internal and external, that led to that loss.  “They scored two touchdowns late.  We get a fourth down stop and we get a phantom ruffing the passer call while the guy is running the ball.  I don’t know how that happens.  There were a couple of different things that didn’t go our way.  There were a couple of turnovers that I thought we created that got overturned by penalties or it just didn’t happen accordingly to the referees.  We have to give West Holmes credit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They are a great football team.  I thought we did a good job against the run.  Kyle Maltrich just had a heck of a night and the quarterback did a good job too.  Hats off to West Holmes.  We are excited about this week’s opportunity to go to New Philadelphia where there is some new scenery and some new blood.”

          The Tygers (2-2,0-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, has lost its last two, Massillon beat them (33-0) two weeks ago.

          Adams says their focus must be on New Philadelphia, not what has happened.  “We turned the page Saturday morning after film.  I think everybody was still a little shell shocked and what have you.  Then we came in Monday regrouped and we had a good day Monday and a fantastic day (Tuesday) and look forward to an even better day (Wednesday).  We are doing everything we can to prepare for a very physical and tuff New Philadelphia team,” he said.

          New Philadelphia (2-2,1-1) beat Ashland (15-7) last week in an “OCC” game.

          Adams calls them very physical and very good on defense and very underrated on offense.  “There is no doubt they are physical.  They run a 3-4, much like us.  They have two big inside linebackers, they rotate their defensive line and their backend is very good.  They do play good defense.  I think their offense is very adequate and very explosive.  They have got #3, I like him as a running back, I think their quarterback can run and he can throw.  They rotate all kinds of different people in there to just try and keep them fresh.  Last week, they held a very explosive Ashland team to seven points, so that says a lot about their defense.  We are just excited about taking this hour and 45 minute trip down to New Philadelphia, checking things out, and hopefully coming home with and “OCC” win,” said Adams.

Published 9/14/22

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Tygers Must Win With Run

          A key game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference will be played on this first week of “OCC” action as Mansfield Senior plays at West Holmes, the defending conference champions.

          Mansfield Senior (2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, lost for the first time this year to Massillon (33-0) last week at Arlin Field.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they have learned where they need to improve going into this week.  “It didn’t go the way we wanted it to go.  I think it opened up our eyes a little bit and gave us a little reality check and helped us improve upon some things that we probably didn’t see before as weaknesses.  I think that anytime that you can improve yourself as a football team, the better off you are.  It is not like we are playing schools that are three or four divisions below us.  Massillon is a premiere program D-2 program and they did some great things against us, but I think I was really proud of our kids and we kept fighting and we held them to field goals.  We held them to no scores.  We were valiant in our efforts it just wasn’t enough,” he said.

          West Holmes (3-0), #1 in our poll, blasted Licking Valley (56-14) last week to extend its regular season winning streak to 14 games.

          Adams says West Holmes is a different team than they were last year, but they are still very good.  “It’s a new season, new team, I don’t remember exactly how many returners they have back form last year’s team, but it’s a significant amount.  The one thing that I do notice they are without #5 the Shear kid and I’m not sure what happened to him.  He was a son of a gun on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I know they have (Elisha) Baldridge back and of course they have Sam Williams-Dixon and Maltarich and a new quarterback.  The quarterback hasn’t really missed a beat in comparing him to last year.  Clark might have been a little more elusive, but this kid can run just a well and he is a lot bigger.  They have some great receivers and their offensive line is huge.  So, we are going to have our hands full.  I know they like to pass the ball.  When you have Sam Williams-Dixon back there it is pretty easy to hand the ball to him and let him do his thing.”

          It’s going to be a battle and for the Tygers to win it, Adams believes the run game will be key, Massillon held them to negative yards rushing, and he says they have to win that part of the game against West Holmes.  “I think we are going to have to take care of the football, eliminate the big play.  I think that was one of the big things last week.  We gave up a lot of big plays.  If they are going to score we are going to have to make them earn it.  Vice versa offensively I think we need to have some big plays.  When we are explosive like that and open things up with plays, good things happen for us.  I think we have to run the ball.  We need to get back to running the ball with our big offensive line and our backs.  Just establishing the run is key for us offensively.  So, running the ball, stopping the run, eliminating the big plays and hanging onto the football are keys to going over to West Holmes and trying to get a victory,” said Adams.

Published 9/07/22

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Mansfield Senior Athletic Too

          Mansfield Senior, impressive in its first two outings of the season, will face its toughest test of the season so far as they host the Massillon Tigers in a non-conference game on Friday night at Arlin Field.

          They outscored North Canton Hoover (35-3) in the second half and went on to pound them (42-9) last Friday.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they made some key adjustments.  “I think we kind of built on some success that we had the previous week against Norwalk, especially offensively.  I think we came out a little bit sluggish or a little bit slow in the first half.  I think mainly it was not doing our assignments.  It wasn’t anything that they had done.  We just didn’t do our assignments, but we got that cleaned up at halftime.  For us defensively, they were throwing something at us that we hadn’t seen.  We went in with the I-pads at halftime and were able to make some adjustments and pretty much wore them down the second half,” he said.

          Massillon (1-1) got back on the winning track with a (35-7) win over Canton Glenoak last Friday.  They had lost to Cincinnati Moeller (49-31) in their opener to the season.

          Adams says they this is a team with a lot of playmakers.  “They are Massillon.  Offensively, they have got “D-one” players all over the place.  They have got a big offensive line.  A big, strong running back and a big receiver and fast little receivers.  They can beat you in a multitude of ways.  We are just going to have to be sound in what we do and try and take away what they do best.  Sometimes that is play action and sometimes that is running the ball.  We just have to worry about Mansfield Senior and try and get to the ball and tackle.  Offensively, I think we have to continue to run the ball.  That has been the real saving grace the last two weeks is we have found a way to run the football,” Adams.

          Adams says a real key will be mental.  He says they must believe they can do the job.  “We have some good athletes too.  We have some great kids too.  I always tell our kids, especially defensively, that we have to live to play another day.  Don’t give up a touchdown and make a tackle.  We are athletic and we are fast and we are tough and sometimes we can make them make a mistake and prevent scores.  We have kind of bought into living another day,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Hopefully we can prevent the big plays this week and if they are going to score on us, they are going to have to earn it.  What an opportunity for Mansfield Senior High, and the City of Mansfield and all people involved to host the Massillon Tigers.  Who would have ever thought that Sean Adams could be part of something so special.”

Published 8/30/22

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Mansfield Senior Faces Tough Hoover

          Mansfield Senior will be at home for the first time this year as they host North Canton Hoover at Arlin Field on Friday night in a non-conference matchup.

          A (21-17) win over Hoover last season might have been the Tygers best of 2021.

          Last week, they beat Norwalk (41-19) to open the campaign.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams the running game was key.  “It was a great game.  They have some good kids over there.  They are tough kids and they were physical.  Anytime that Norwalk and us get together it is a physical battle.  Hats off to them, but we were proud of our kids and they way we were able to come through and make some big plays, especially offensively.  Duke Reese had a heck of a game, Ammar Davis.  We were able to run the ball at will.  Conversely, we were able to stop the run for pretty much the whole night.  I think they had 69 yards on 42 carries or something like that.  It was a good win for us to come out of the gates against a quality opponent,” said Adams.

          There seems to be more throwing of the ball every season in Ohio high school football, but Adams says it is still very important to run the ball and stop the run.  “We preach run the ball and stop the run.  The first couple of scrimmages we weren’t able to run the ball and we are getting three and outs and the defense was playing the majority of the time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Norwalk even had time of possession.  It was 26 or 27 minutes to 19.  So, we have to worry about that time of possession.  I was really impressed by how the offensive line came through last week.  I remember back in the old days when we had three scrimmages and it was three weeks of two a days and you always thought your biggest improvement was between week one and week three and that was just the case last week.”

          Hoover (1-0) opened its season with a (35-21) victory over Akron Buchtel.

          Adams says this will be football team that is very good on both sides of the ball.  “It’s North Canton Hoover.  They are big, they are physical.  I like their slot receiver #3, #29 is back as a running back, and he led the Federal League last year in rushing.  #10 is a nice little split end that they like to single up.  Defensively was probably their strong suit last year, just the way that they could play defense.  I don’t see whole lot of the change, they still run a 4-2-5 and they get after you up front, so we are going to have our hands full trying to stop a pretty dynamic North Canton Hoover football team,” he said.

Published 8/24/22

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Tygers Better be Ready to go

          Mansfield Senior must tighten up its play as they Tygers head for Norwalk to battle the Truckers in the opener for both schools on Friday night.

          Last Friday, assistant coach Sean Adams says, was a not so good performance against Fremont Ross in a scrimmage.  “I don’t think any of us were pleased with the way we played against Fremont Ross.  I think you will have to ask the kids how practice has gone because I think it been going great.  They might have a different opinion.  They have had to pay the piper, we have had some consequences for things we didn’t do.  We had a chance to run a pick all of the way back for touchdown and we don’t block the quarterback and quarterback trips us up.  We get a possible interception is the end zone and don’t secure the ball and the ball pops out and it’s an incomplete pass.  We spike the ball and the next play they score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They are two mental mistakes against Fremont Ros that we typically haven’t been making.  Offensively, we could get into a rhythm.  I think we tried to run the ball and we had some nice runs.  We just couldn't get into a rhythm.  We have had a good week of practice.  It’s only Tuesday and (Wednesday) is defensive day.  We are going to watch film and get better defensively.”

          With the opener on the horizon, Adams hopes they see a better effort than they did last week.  “They want to play football.  That was part of the disheartening thing last week.   We have a chance to play at Arlin Field, which I feel is one of the best stadiums in the State of Ohio.  We have a chance to go out and showcase in front of our fans and show them what we are all about.  We have a chance to play I’m pretty sure a preseason, a top five in the state, division II, Fremont Ross team and we act like we don’t even want to be there.  I think it might have been a good thing for us because it woke us up.  We woke up in a scrimmage, we didn’t lose a game, and now we will see if we can respond to that and go play a very physical and tough Norwalk team,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior beat Norwalk (18-12) last year in the first game on the schedule.

          Adams says from watching film it looks like the Truckers want to be a power running team.  “I am sure they have got other things up their sleeve, but they want to get the ball to thar Jarren McLendon, he is their running back.  He is a slasher, he is 6’1” and a big kid.  They have a good blocker in the (Mason) Canalos kid and they have an H-back.  The thing they are trying to build is their offensive line.  I know they graduated a boatload of those guys last year.  So, I think they are going to come in and they want to run the football with their big backs.  Defensively, they kind of changed up their scheme and went to a 3-3 stack and play a lot of man and try and pressure you and let the guy in the middle roam kind of like Cade Stover used to do.  We have to go up there on the road in a hostile environment.  We are going to have the kids prepared and we are going to be up there ready to go,” said Adams.

Published 8/17/22

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Mansfield Senior Ready to Get Going

          Mansfield Senior was the runner up last year in the Ohio Cardinal Conference and they feel they can field another strong team this year.

          Assistant coach Sean Adams says they are just happy to be back on the field and they have done some good things too.  “We are just happy its football season again.  It’s a new year, it’s a new group of kids and that is always the fun part of coaching high school football is trying to mold a new bunch and to try and get the best out of them and try to teach them some life lessons.  So, we are excited for some more Tyger football.  We have had a great summer,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The kids have been really attentive.  We have a lot of participation and not too many absences.  We have had some good seven on sevens.  We went to the University of Toledo and did really well up there against some good competition.  We did very good against some teams that came down to Arlin Field last week for a seven on seven.  We are excited for another season.  We are just ready to get things going.”

          Adams, the defensive coordinator, says seven on sevens can be good for defensive backs too, but overall, it’s the competition.  “I think more importantly it is a chance to go out there and compete.  Our kids love to compete.  It was fun to see them get some stops.  It was fun to see them score some touchdowns and it was a fun to see them battle through some adversity and score to win a game and to win a game by knocking down a pass.  So, those kinds of things are fun to watch whether it is seven on seven or real football.  We are looking forward to another great season this year,” he said.

          Like every year, the Tygers are looking for a new group of leaders and Adams believes they have found some.  “We had some great leadership last year and all of those guys were real catalysts for us last year.  We are going to miss them, but we wish them well.  They are all doing great things.  We have Makhi Bradley back, we have Leo Hess back, we have Keontez Bradley back, we have Ja’Ontay O’Bryant back, who was a sophomore last year, Amarr Davis, Daylan McGinty is a new face that has really come on this year and La La Owens is back.  So, we have some good kids coming back.  I hate to sound like a broken record, but we are just excited for some Tyger football,” said Adams.

Published 8/02/22

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Tygers Get First Win

          Mansfield Senior earned its first win of the season Monday evening by edging cross town rival Mansfield Christian (9-8) in a non-conference game.

          Coach J.R. Davis says it was important to get that first win.  “The biggest thing is with how hard we work and the conference that we play in, just being able to get a win and some confidence in our guys.  The way they came back and just didn’t give up with any of the situations that happened (Monday) night.  Overall, just getting the win was the biggest factor,” he said.

          Monday night marked the first time the Tygers have scored a run this season.  Davis says they did a good job of putting the ball in play and forcing Mansfield Christian to make a play.  “The craziest thing is before this game we didn’t score at all.  We hadn’t scored a run all year and that is the toughest thing to try and get some confidence,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We ended up with 16 hits by just putting the ball in play.  That is one of the biggest issues I bring up everyday for us hitting wise.  I tell them just put the ball in play and make them make a play, especially in games like (Monday) night.”

          Tygers will play Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Ashland on Tuesday in a conference game.

          Davis says he has emphasized to the kids the importance of plate discipline and not striking out.  “I was lucky enough to play legion baseball for Ray Peterson growing up.  Ray was a big proponent of mentioning that if you put the ball in play the defense has to do three things.  They have to field the ball, throw the ball and catch the ball.  That is one of the biggest things that he brought up and I have always kept that with me,” said Davis.

Published 4/26/22

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Pauley No Hits Tygers

          Cole Pauley threw a no hitter and struck out 18 and Lexington downed Mansfield Senior (10-0) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Tuesday evening.

          It was the first win this season for the Minutemen (1-5,1-4) and coach Kevin Morrow says it was a big boost for them.  “It was a huge win.  We just had to get in the win column to feel good about ourselves.  We just haven’t been able to practice outside hardly at all.  We have had some games so far that we did play that we kind of hung around with teams and faded away in the end.  We just need to feel good.  Cole threw really well (Tuesday) night.  A freshmen Chance Basolone, we let him start, we have been really high on him, and he had three hits,” said Morrow.

          It was (0-0) after four, but the Minutemen put up a five spot in the fifth.

          Mansfield Senior coach J.R. Davis says it was a big mistake they made that opened the flood gates.  “The score doesn’t show the great pitching battle we had between Pauley and “Q”.  If we catch a line drive, we are 0-0 going to the bottom of the fifth, instead it snowballs into a five run inning and the way Cole was pitching it was a hug hole to try and come out of,” he said.

          Ashland beat West Holmes (8-2) Tuesday to take sole possession of first place in the “OCC”.  They lead the Knights, Wooster, and Mt. Vernon, who beat Madison (4-3), by a game.

          Pauley, headed to Ohio State to play for the Buckeyes was overpowering.  Morrow says was more efficient that he was in his first couple of starts against Wooster and Ashland.  “We are really counting on him to kind of lead the team and be that guy that can win a game in the “OCC”.  He has had a couple of good outings where he has struck out quite a few, but he wasn’t as efficient as he needed to be and he knows that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “(Tuesday) night he was really efficient.  We needed him because Mansfield’s number one (Quintin) Little was pretty good as well.  He was really carving us up there for a while.  Obviously, with 18 strikeouts and kind of leading the way for us and gave us that veteran leadership.”

          The Minutemen as are to host Mansfield Senior (0-6,0-4) on Wednesday, weather permitting.

          Morrow hopes they can get in a rhythm.  “Especially, the practice end of it, that is the biggest thing.  We just need to go out there and take legitimate fly balls, legitimate ground balls and throw it a full distance.  Problem is now that kind of stuff has to be done during a real game.  We are hoping the weather starts improving and we get a streak of days where we just get some consistency and momentum built where we are just playing baseball on a routine basis,” said Morrow.

Published 4/13/22

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Tygers Goal is to Win

          Mansfield Senior needs to start winning baseball games if they are to change the perception of the program.

          They begin the season on Saturday at Northmor in non-conference play.  Their opening Ohio Cardinal Conference games are next Tuesday and Wednesday against Mt. Vernon.

          Coach J.R. Davis says they are stating to build interest in baseball at Mansfield Senior.  “It has definitely been encouraging.  This year we have about 38 kids that came out, about five more than last year, so now we are able to field a freshmen team.  So, numbers are coming up and we have a lot of freshmen coming in and a lot of kids that are interested in playing baseball.  So, that is very inspiring for me and great for Mansfield Senior as well,” he said.

          Davis says without a doubt their goal this year is to win Ohio Cardinal Conference games.  “Last year, our goal was to just be competitive and just get back to being able to just compete.  I think we surprised a lot of teams last year keeping it close.  There were a few games, like Madison and Lexington last year, that we were one or two plays aways from winning and causing some upsets within the conference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, even though we are going to be very young this year the goal has to be winning.  We have to start winning.  We have to start changing the mentality of Tyger baseball around here and the only way you can do that, and gain respect, is to start winning.”

          Davis says there must be a winning attitude with the team if they are to gain the respect that they want.  “That is one of the toughest things.  I have been trying to implement that, especially in our last two scrimmages.  The attitude has to click, it has to change at some point.  In the past, we have been teams destinations to come over and work in their JV players and younger guys because they know it is going to be an easy win.  So, we have to change the mentality that we are going to fight every game and be able to pull out some victories.  It is all about changing the mindsets of the players and also within the league,” said Davis.

Published 3/23/22

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Lexington Shuts down Mansfield Senior

          Lexington made things tough on Mansfield Senior shooters on Thursday night and they defeated the Tygers (44-33) in a district semifinal in division II at Ashland High School.

          They return Saturday night to face Huron in the district title game.  The Tigers beat Norwalk (64-43) in the nightcap on Thursday night.

          Mansfield Senior (7-16) shot just 31% (14-44) from the field and Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says they were able to give the Tygers some different looks.  “For us every night is a defensive goal.  We talked about 90 points, 50 some points in their second game and we hold them 33 here.  We told the guys that has to continue if we are going to continue our run.  We have always prided ourselves on defense.  This year I think we have the athletes to throw a couple of different looks out there and (Thursday) night it worked.  We were really focused on slowing down their better players,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “The first and second time we played them it was one guy.  They had been better because they had been sharing the ball.  They had a number of guys that had been scoring for them.  We did a nice job of contesting.  I thought in the first half they struggled to get some shots to knock down and that’s because we had a hand in their face.  I’m glad to be moving on.  Right now, it’s just about surviving and going to the next one and that’s what we are doing right now.”

          Mansfield Senior coach Marquis Sykes says they could never really get into a flow.  “We got a little stagnant offensively.  Lexington is a great half court defensive team.  Their size hurt us when we attempted to attack the paint.  It was just a bad night offensively for us.  We just couldn’t get things going,” he said.

          Both teams in the first half took the look of bricklayers rather than basketball players and the Minutemen (15-9) held a four point lead (14-10) at the break.  Lexington stated the second half with a (11-4) run punctuated by a Hudson Moore basket with 2:00 to play in the quarter giving the Minutemen a (25-14) lead.

          Sykes told swankonsports.com going into the game that they had to win on the glass and those comments were echoed by Hamilton in the pregame.  It being pretty much stalemate, which favors Lexington.

          Hamilton thought his kids were aggressive and did a good job on the boards.  “We really thought second chance opportunities was going to be big.  One our stat sheet it was seven and seven, so we didn’t give up anything there.  We did win the rebounding battle only by a couple.  I thought they were motivated.  They were driven.  We knew the boards were going to be valuable.  They got some big ones, especially Ware went up and got some.  He was rebounding where only he can get it a lot of times.  We told the guys you have to stay on the floor and keep them off the glass.  I thought we did enough the come away with a win,” he said.

          Maurice Ware was the Tygers leading scorer with 11, but he didn’t explode like his is capable of doing. 

          Hamilton says Caden Eichler, who had the responsibility of guarding Ware much of the night did a solid job.  “Caden has really stepped up for us this year.  I said it last year, he was a post guy in the past and we thought with his athleticism we could move him to the wing.  Last year was a total experiment.  This year he feels a lot more comfortable out there.  Defensively, he has been one of my lock down guys.  I have a couple of them that I really trust and he is one of them.  So, we focused on him to be that guy to take on Ware and not get himself into foul trouble because Ware can do that to you,” said Hamilton.

          Ware cut the Tyger deficit to six at (25-19) with first hoop of the fourth quarter, but then quickly picked up his fourth foul with 7:21 left and Sykes put him on the bench for four minutes, when he returned the Minutemen had jumped to an 11 point advantage (33-22) and things were all but decided.

          Sykes says given it to do over again, he is not sure he would have left Ware on the floor.  “In hindsight I don’t know.  It is a trickly situation when you are playing with four fouls and that much time left do you leave him?  Do you take him out?  I don’t know.  Who knows how it would have played out if we had left him in, he could have gotten a foul the very next possession,” he said.

          Baden Forup a 6’7” junior led Lexington with 15 points, the only Minuteman in double figures. 

          Hamilton believes they did hurt the Tygers in the post.  “We knew that we had that advantage and that we had been playing small in their couple of tournament game that they had done well.  We kind of had to pick and choose which way it was going to go and which team was going to do that.  We used our size when we could.  When we thought they had their advantage with their speed we would take Baden out and let him have a rest at that point and we tried to go with our speed and quickness as well.  It was really a chess game.  Sometimes they would put shooters in and we would do some things differently and stuff.  It is one of those deals in the tournament where you throw some stuff out there and see what you can do.  Luckily, we played an opponent that we were fairly familiar with, but they knew us as well,” said Hamilton.

Published 3/04/22

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Rebounding the Key for Tygers

          Mansfield Senior tangles with Lexington on Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School.

          The Minutemen (14-9) won both times they played in Ohio Cardinal Conference action, but the Tygers have won their last three games after what had been a disappointing regular season.

          That includes a (54-52) win over second seeded Shelby on Friday night when Maurice Ware scored with .8 seconds left.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they stayed tough when they had to.  “I thought our guys fought hard.  I felt like we were prepared.  We had a couple of opportunities to kind of fold it in when Shelby made big three pointer after three pointer.  The guys just stuck with it.  We go some big rebounds in traffic and some defensive stops.  Haney made a deep three when we really needed one.  Maurice Ware capped off with nice finish around rim to put us over the top,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (7-15) lost to Lexington (60-53) on December 17 and (46-32) on January 28.

          Sykes says they rebound the ball and play really good defense.  “Their size and their ability to rebound has been a big key for them.  Defensively in the half court they are really, really solid.  They don’t allow teams to score a lot of points on them.  We are going to have to do some different things to try and put some points on the scoreboard.  Certainly, we are going to have to put up a major fight in the paint to be able to rebound with those guys.  If we can rebound with them and score some points we will have a competitive game.  If we can’t rebound with them, it will be a long night for the Tygers,” said Sykes.

          Sykes believes the team that wins the rebounding war is going to have a really good chance to win the game.  “That has always been one of our staples to get on that offensive glass and create some extra offensive possessions.  That has just been hard to come by this year.  When you look at the games where we have played our best those have been games when we have outrebounded our opponent and had well over double figures in offensive rebounds,” he told Swankonsports.com, “So, that is a big key for us and the same for Lex.  I’m sure their scouting report says the exact same thing.  They are going to look to crash the offensive glass and dominate the defensive glass.  So, it is a huge key for both teams.  Whichever team executes that part of the game the best will probably have the best opportunity to win.”

Published 3/02/22

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Tygers Have to do Their Stuff Well

          Mansfield Senior meets Galion on Wednesday night at Bucyrus High School in a sectional semifinal in division II.

          The winner plays Shelby for a sectional title on Friday night.

          After a 10 game losing streak lasting six weeks, the Tygers were able to beat arch rival Madison (55-45) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Saturday afternoon.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they really needed the win badly.  “We feel like we are playing better basketball.  Finally, we were able to end the season with a win over our crosstown rival.  So, that is always a good thing for the Tygers to get a win over the Rams.  So, we are just trying to carry that momentum into the tournament and recognize that we just have to take it one game at a time and focus on execution,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We are just trying to preach to the guys that this is it, so they intensity and focus and everything has to turn up a bit for tournament time.  I think the guys have done that over the last couple of weeks or so, I am excited to see what we can do on Wednesday night.”

          Mansfield Senior (5-15) faces Galion (5-17) on Wednesday night.  Galion also won its last game of the regular season in beating Crestline (62-48) in a non-conference game Saturday night.

          Sykes says Galion has shooters, but this is a game that they must focus on what they have to do.  “They have three guys that can really shoot the ball really well.  We are going to have to make sure we defend the three point line and most of all use our advantages.  We will have some slight size advantages inside, especially getting La La Owens back.  We are going to have to make sure we are dominating the glass on both ends of the floor while still playing fast.  Utilizing our pressure defenses in the full and the half court,” said Sykes.

          Really for the Tygers to do well against anyone, they have to concentrate on themselves.  “We have really tied to put the focus on ourselves and the things we need to get better at and improve upon and not so much our opponents here of late.  Those are things we feel like we need to do.  If we do those things, we feel like we give ourselves a chance to win,” he said.

Published 2/22/22

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Halfcourt Defense a Key for Mansfield Senior

          Mansfield Senior plays a non-conference game on Friday night against a school that will be in the Ohio Cardinal Conference next year in the New Philadelphia Quakers.

          They are at New Phily on Friday.

          Their last game was a (58-50) loss to West Holmes in an “OCC” game last Tuesday.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says they are dealing with the same problems they have been all year.  “We show some things at times where we show the potential to be a pretty solid group.  For us it just putting a full game together.  That is what the issue has been.  We are going to continue to our focus on that situational basketball and they way we close out quarters and they way we start games, coming out of timeouts and different things like that just make sure we are improving and getting the way we need to be these next three games before the tournament starts,” said Sykes.

          The Tygers (4-13) plays at New Philadelphia on Friday.

          Sykes describes the Quakers as a team that isn’t going to make many mistakes.  “We have not give mes on our schedule, that’s for sure.  They have a really nice ballclub.  They have a lot of size and strength and some pretty good athletes.  They have some good shooters.  They are just a nice, disciplined, well coached ball team, so we have our hands full,” he said.

          Sykes outlines some keys for his team including playing solid defense and applying some pressure to the New Philadelphia ballhandlers.  “We are really going to have to be sure we rebound the ball.  We are going to have to defend well in the half court.  We are going to have to make sure we are solid because they are really waiting on teams to make a mistake and then they capitalize on those mistakes.  We going to be solid in the halfcourt,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We are also going to have to be able to apply some pressure to their ballhandlers and not allow them to run their offense and run their sets and be comfortable out there on the floor.  If we can do those few things, we will have a competitive game, but if we can’t lock in on those handful of keys it is going to be a long night for us.”

Published 2/10/22

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Mansfield Senior Must Rebound

          Mansfield Senior tries to break a six game losing streak as they take the short trip to Lexington on Friday night to meet the Minutemen in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.

          On Tuesday night, the Tygers played an excellent first half, but only made four field goals in the second half in a (64-61) loss to Shelby in non-conference play.

          Coach Marquis Sykes they have learn how to handle it when they have the lead.  “We played good, quality Tyger basketball in the first half and in the second half just couldn’t finish the deal.  We are really just learning right now situational basketball and how to play with the lead and what kind of shots you should take when you do have a substantial lead and just how to close teams out.  So, it is just a learning process for us and I am just hoping we learn and grow from that situation and the next time we put ourselves in that situation we can have an appropriate outcome,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior (4-11,2-6) visits Lexington (10-6,5-3) on Friday night in the “OCC.”  The Minutemen are a game back of first place Ashland in the conference standings, but they have had their own struggles as of late losing their last four, including a (58-52) setback to Tiffin Columbian in non-conference play last Saturday.

          Sykes says Lexington to tough to guard in the post and they rebound very well.  “It will definitely be their size and their rebounding ability.  That has really been the difference I think for those guys this year.  When they have played really well they have beaten teams up on the glass on both ends and they shot the ball well in the games they have looked pretty good in.  In is obviously going to be a tough one.  This is a conference rival and we know each other pretty well, so I don’t think there are going to be any surprises.  It is really who executes their game plan and their team philosophy at highest level and that will be the winning team,” said Sykes.

          Mansfield Senior wants to keep the ball out of the paint and Sykes says they plan to do that with ball pressure.  “You have to try and keep the ball out of the lane when it comes to playing Lexington.  Our way of trying to keep the ball out of the paint is with pressure.  Try not to allow them easy post feeds and get pressure on the ball and pressure in the passing lanes makes it a little more difficult to get the ball inside.  That is going to be a big key for us.  Our post players have to play solid, one on one defense.  They can’t get pinned inside and make sure they are in the right positions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We have to play good, quality team defense.  Every player has to step in and play their role and play their position defensively.  If you play good team defense you can take away some of those looks inside.  When you have a good defensive possession, you have to end it with a rebound.  If we can do that, we give ourselves a chance, but if we don’t it will be a long night for us.”

Published 1/28/22

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Tygers Still Searching For Answers

          Mansfield Senior has lost six of its last seven games and they are continuing to search for the keys to more success.  Their next quiz will be Friday night at home against West Holmes in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.

          Tuesday night, they were beaten by “OCC” co-leader Mt. Vernon (62-57) again left scratching their heads.

          Coach Marquis Sykes says it is consistency that is hurting them.  “It is frustrating to say the least.  We are not really playing consistent type of basketball, nothing more, nothing less.  We have talked about it, we have met about it, we have watched film, we have tried to practice through it, just really trying to figure everything out.  I do think we got some productive work in (Wednesday).  We are just trying to push forward and move on to the next game and put our fucus on West Holmes and try and do everything we can to come out with a victory,” said Sykes.