Mansfield Girls' Basketball Team defeats Dartmouth 52-46

Going into the fourth quarter, the Mansfield High girls' basketball team was staring right into the eyes of the worst fate the state tournament can offer...a first round upset.

Leading 37-35,going into the final frame, 15th seed Dartmouth was looking for an upset over the No. 2 seeded Hornets. Fortunately, Mansfield was able to pull a 52-46 win over the Indians. The Hornets will now move on to an all-Hockomock League quarterfinal against Franklin Friday in Mansfield at 7 p.m.

"We played well enough to win," said Mansfield High head coach Mike Redding.

And good enough to preventing the early exit.

Mansfield had already beaten Dartmouth, 51-50, in the first round of the Mansfield Roundball Tournament, so they knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"We were up for four seconds against them the first time and No. 35 (Kathryn Campbell) went coast-to-coast for a basket," said Dartmouth head coach Jeff Hoyle. "We were hoping to avoid that. That's credit to them. We played their type of game in the 40s. We want to run against them."

Keys to the win for the Hornets:

1. Tournament experience and playing well under pressure in the fourth quarter.

"We have the senior leadership and this is a pretty poised group," said Redding. 
"During the end of the season, we were in tournament-type games against Franklin, Oliver Ames, Dartmouth and Lincoln-Sudbury."

 Mansfield also outscored Dartmouth, 17-9 in the final frame.

"We ran out of gas," said Hoyle, whose team had played Tuesday night against Barnstable.

2. It was the play of junior center Colleen Copley, who dominated inside with her shooting and her rebounding. She finished with 16-points

"(Copley) was getting a lot of shots in the paint," said Hoyle.

The center's  jumper with under two minutes remaining in the game gave the Hornets a 44-41 lead. After Michaela Bowes canned a three-pointer, Mansfield was up 47-41 and never looked back the rest of the way.

"We cut down on the number of turnovers this time," Copley said. "They doubled me at times. We were really aggressive."

"Colleen was able to control the boards at both ends and prevent them from getting second chances," said Redding.

3. Mansfield held Dartmouth 1,000-point scorer Molly Brown to 14 points. The senior guard was playing with a hand injury, which hurt her team's chances. The Hornets countered by playing senior guard Kelli McPherson against her. For most of the game, Brown was blanketed by tight coverage. In fact, the only time she was really open was late in the fourth quarter when Brown connected for a 3-pointer.

Mansfield knew they were going to have to keep Brown from shooting them out of the tournament.

"Kelli knew the she had to go the whole game (against Brown)," said Redding. "This wasn't a two against 15 match-up. They are a very good team."

4. In the tournament, you need your veterans to step up and make a difference. Senior co-captain Bridget Davis did just that. She scored 12 points, but that only told half the story. 

"Bridget does a lot of things that aren't going to show up in the scorebook," said Redding. "She's a forward and we moved her to point-guard and she did a great job."

Going into the fourth quarter, Davis knew her squad just had to stay together.

"I thought we just had to work as team," she said. "We knew it was going to be a close game and it was good to have a home game."

5. Getting the second seed with a 21-1 record meant a home game for the Hornets and that might have made the difference. The Mansfield crowd far out numbered the Dartmouth followers.

"I wouldn't have want to play them in Dartmouth," said Redding. "It would have been a different game. This is why seeding is so important."

The Indians, who have been a regular in the Mansfield Roundball Tournament, have struggled on the Hornets' home court.

"Sometime we'll win a game over here," said Hoyle with a laugh.

Having the next round at home will also be key.

"It will be a Friday night and there will be a great crowd," said Redding. "It will be a real showcase for the Hockomock League."

SCORING FOR MANSFIELD-Kelli McPherson 4, Colleen Copley 16, Bridget Davis 12, Michaela Bowes 6, Kathryn Campbell 8, Krista Luchette 2.

 SCORING FOR DARTMOUTH-Molly Brown 14, Lauren Pires 11, Darian Silva 8, Ally Pontes 4, Kadi Souza 2, Caisie Cadorette 5.