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You needed to be in your seat and ready for the start of this game. LSH sure was ready. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead only 2 minutes into the game. Spartan fans were on their feet early with the excitement of their team's early sucess. Mansfield was finally able to put 2 points up with 5 minutes to go. But Lima didn't let up scoring 7 of the next 9 points to take a 17-4 first quarter lead.
The Tygers (no that is not ME misspelling it) didn't hang their heads. They came out in the second and reeled off 8 straight points to close to 17-12 with just over 3 minutes in the half. The Spartans turned the tide and ended the quarter on a 5-2 spurt and took a 22-14 lead into halftime.
The first half numbers were ugly for both teams, even with Lima's hot start. LSH made just 8 of 25 shots, 2-7 on triples. Kendall Jackson led them with 7 points.
MSH connected on 5 of 22, 0-4 from the arc. Jon Bessick and Jalen Watts each had 4 points.
Manfield looked like a totally different team when they came out in the 3rd quarter. Uptempo was the 3rd quarter's theme. The Tygers scored 9 points in the first 4 minutes, but the Spartans matched them basket for basket and still held an 8 point lead. Thats when Mansfield would gain some momentum and outscore Lima 15-9 to pull to within 2 points after the 3rd at 40-38.
The Tygers were able to carry that momentum into the 4th and tie the game at 43 only 2 minutes in. A time out by Lima was much needed and their coach must have challenged them, cause they came out of the time out and played inspired ball to finish the game. The Spartans closed out the game on a 14-6 run and sealed an 8 point victory 57-49.
Lima's shooting improved in the second half, hitting on 11-22 in the 2nd half and 19-47 for the game. 16-20 from the line, 35 rebounds, 14 TO's, 7 assists, 8 steals, and 3 blocks. Anton Hutchins had a monster 2nd half, scoring 24 of his game high 29 points. Tyler White helped out with 12 points.
Mansfield also shot 50% in the second half at 15-30 and improved to 20-52 for the game. 8-14 from the line, 31 rebounds, 14 TO's, 6 assists, 6 steals, and 3 blocks. Darrin Harris also had a big second half scoring 16 of his team high 18 points. Jalen Watts finished with 16.
The win puts the Spartans into the Regional tournament against Toledo St Johns Jesuit at the University of Toledo's Savage Arena at 7pm March 18th.
