Mansfield Fourth Graders Edge Out Norton

In a battle between two of the top fourth-grade girls’ basketball teams in the MetroWest League, Mansfield handed its first loss of the season, 28-27, during a Division 1 contest on early Sunday afternoon at the Mass. Premier Courts in Mansfield.

The victory improved Mansfield to 10-1, while Norton dropped to 9-1. Braintree is tied with Norton for second place in the division at 9-1. Those two teams will battle on Wednesday night at the Mass. Premier Courts.

Madison Benadello led Mansfield on Sunday afternoon with eight points, while Paige Broyles scored seven. Emily Vigeant contributed five points to the victory and Sydney Mulken had four. Stephanie Kemp and Erin Daniel rounded out the scoring for Mansfield in the game with two points apiece.

“It was fun playing a good team like that,” said Mansfield head coach Kevin Kemp, whose team dropped a tough 22-20 decision to Norton earlier in the season at the Mass. Premier Courts. “After we lost to them the first time, we were interested to see how the kids would play against them the second time.”

Norton standout Rachael Johnson scored a game-high 12 points, while Sarah John contributed six points and Christina Phillips had five. Kirsten Loring and Kassidy Fields scored two points apiece.

Mallory Secher and Jacqueline Conroy also performed well in the game for Norton, which played the entire contest short handed. Norton had seven players available in the first half and just six in the second half.

The game got off to a slow start for both teams as Norton held a 6-4 advantage after one quarter. Mansfield took a 4-0 lead with 5:18 remaining in the quarter following baskets by Daniel and Benadello.

But Norton rebounded with a 6-0 run to end the period and take a two-point advantage after one. Johnson began the surge with a blocked shot, drive and lay-up at 3:30. Fields then hit a jumper for her only two points of the game with 1:55 left and Phillips followed with a bank jumper with 22 seconds remaining to make it 6-4.

Mansfield tied the game at 6-6 early in the second quarter on a basket by Broyles. But Norton responded with a 4-0 surge to take a 10-6 lead with 5:56 remaining in the period. Johnson had a basket to start the quick run. She then grabbed a steal and finished the play with a lay-up to give her team a four-point lead.

Mansfield used a free throw by Vigeant and a jumper by Benadello to close the gap to one at 10-9 with 4:52 left in the first half.

But once again Norton responded, scoring the final five points of the quarter to open up a six-point advantage at the break, 15-9. A basket by Phillips at 3:10 started the run, followed by a pair of free throws by John with 2:29 left in the half. Phillips added another free throw with 41.6 seconds left to give her team a five-point lead at the half, 15-9.

Norton outscored Mansfield 9-5 in the second quarter.

“At halftime, we told the kids to take the ball to the hoop more,” Kemp said. “And in the second half the kids did a better job with that. They also did a better job passing the ball and did not turn it over a lot. The kids also played good defense during the entire game. That is something we work on a lot during every practice.”

Mansfield began its comeback at the start of the second half, scoring the first four points to close within two at 15-13, 32 seconds into the third quarter. Benadello and Vigeant accounted for the points during this surge.

After a bank jumper by Loring, her only points of the day, gave Norton a 17-13 lead with 7:10 left in the third, Mansfield extended its run to 8-2 with four more points, tying the game at 17-17 with four minutes remaining in the period. Broyles had a basket at 6:15 and Mulken hit a bank jumper at the four-minute mark to tie the game.

A bank jumper by John gave Norton the lead back at 19-17 with 3:11 left in the third before Kemp scored her only two points of the game on a nice driving lay-up to deadlock the contest at 19-19 with 1:12 left. The teams were tied at 19-19 entering the fourth quarter as Mansfield outscored Norton 10-4 in the third.

The basket by Kemp started a 9-0 run by Mansfield, who scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 26-19 lead with 4:58 left in the game. Vigeant had a rebound and put back at 6:55 for Mansfield before Broyles hit the only three pointer of the game to give her team a 24-19 lead with 6:10 left. Benadello concluded the surge with a driving lay-up with 4:58 remaining, giving Mansfield a seven-point advantage at 26-19.

Little did Mansfield know at the time, but the team would score just two points over the final five minutes of the game, but that would be enough to get the victory.

Looking to be in big trouble at this point, Norton went on a quick 8-0 run over the span of just 1:18 to retake the lead at 27-26 with 2:27 remaining in the contest.

John started the final Norton surge with a jumper at 3:45. Johnson, who scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter during this run, pulled her team to within three at 26-23 with a rebound and put back at 3:20.

Norton got a little closer when Johnson converted another put back following a steal by Conroy, making it 26-25 with 2:38 left in the game. Johnson then concluded the run with a steal and lay-up with 2:27 remaining, giving Norton a 27-26 edge.

After several missed free throws and turnovers, Mansfield took the lead for good when Mulken hit a jumper, giving her team a 28-27 lead with 39.3 seconds left.

Norton had a couple of opportunities to take the lead over the final 38 seconds, but was unable to and Mansfield held on at the end for the victory.

“We got the looks we wanted in the second half, we were just not hitting the shots,” said Norton head coach John Conroy. “They are a good defensive team and we were only getting one shot during each possession.

“A couple of good things came out of this game, even though we lost. We had to learn to play from behind. We were also put in a position to have to use a full-court press. And we were able to make up the lead late in the game with a successful press.”

Mansfield and Norton will conclude their regular seasons with games next Sunday. Norton will host Hopkinton (2-9 record) at 5:20 p.m. at Mass. Premier Court 3. Mansfield will face Easton (0-11) at the Olmstead-Richardson Middle School in Easton on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Braintree will complete the regular season against Franklin (8-3), traveling to the Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin on Sunday at 10:20 a.m.