Mountain Grove hands Mansfield its first loss

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By Whitney Keith

Mountain Grove head coach Duane Hiler freely admitted that his team won on the defensive end, and largely by controlling Mansfield center Dylan Caruso.

“We contained Caruso,” said Mountain Grove helmsman Duane Hiler about his team’s 20-point victory over neighboring Mansfield, speaking specifically of the 6’9” sophomore.

“We guarded well, and we were able to take the driving lanes away.”

Mountain Grove, currently sitting at No. 8 in Class 3 in the statewide coaches’ poll, had been looking to test their chops against Mansfield, who was ranked 2nd in Class 2 by the coaches’ poll last week.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

The game started off tightly and fast-paced, with a deep three-point shot by Mansfield senior Mason Roy giving the Lions a narrow 12-11 lead with three seconds left in the first quarter. However, the Panthers started to ramp up the pressure, curtailing Caruso’s effectiveness and the Lions’ overall offensive drive to lead 27-19 going into the half.

The Lions got within striking distance again in the third with a three-point shot by senior Jonah Williamson to bring the score to 35-28, but the point span never got any closer than that, a fact that wasn’t helped by Caruso earning his fourth foul and being sat with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Hiler commented that turnovers will be a point of practice for his squad following the contest.

“I felt that we had several unforced turnovers, and they seemed to come at times when we really could have stretched our lead.”

The victory brought the Panthers’ record to 4-0, while it dropped the Lions’ to 5-1.

Mountain Grove will compete in the NorthArk shootout on Saturday against Omaha, AR, with game time set at 4:30 p.m. at the North Arkansas College campus in Harrison, AR.

Mansfield will travel to Springfield Catholic on Friday evening.

Mountain Grove: 11-27-45-64
Mansfield:12-19-31-44

Mountain Grove: McNew 19, B. Coffman 12, C. Coffman 11, Otwell 10, Veach 6, Sheppard 4, Williams 2
Mansfield: Caruso 11, Greene 11, Roy 5, Tate 5, Williamson 3, Gray 3, Watterson 2, Neal 2, Evans 2

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