Mansfield Girls Hoop Makes it a Garden Party

At halftime of the Newton South-Mansfield Division 1 South girls' basketball semifinal game, the New Bedford people who left for the ride home, had to be thinking they were going to prepare to play Newton South for the title Friday at the Boston Garden.
That looked like a safe bet at the time.
In fact, it sure looked like a Whalers-Lions showdown, especially after Mansfield was held to just 13 points in the first half and trailing, 32-13.
Somebody, though, forget to send the memo to the Hornets that their season was over.
Instead of just packing in it, Mansfield switched things around, holding the Lions to 13 points in the second half as they rallied for an unbelievable 47-45 win over Newton South. The South final will be at 5 p.m. The Whalers defeated Braintree, 63-35.
Now, instead of preparing to face the Lions, the Whalers have to get ready for a Hornet team, who is having one of the special seasons that don't come down the pike that often.
"To comeback from 19 against a team this talented and this well-coached is an amazing accomplishment for this team," said Mansfield High head coach Mike Redding. "I'm so proud of these girls."
In the first half, the Lions couldn't miss, but the second half, it was the exact opposite story.
"Sometimes in these games when you played with nothing to lose because you are behind helps you," said Redding, whose team will be making its second straight trip to the Garden after beating Durfee for the title last year. "The momentum shifts and the team with the lead gets a little tight and it's tough to manage it."
What the Hornets did at the half was re-group, change their stragety around a bit and rely on each other.
"We just worked together as a team," said Mansfield's Michaela Bowes. "We knew we were going to comeback in the second half."
Now for the strategy part:
"We said to make them put the ball on the floor and don't give them threes," said Redding. "I think they might have hit one or two. If felt like they might have hit 15 in the first half, but it was six or seven. It was just determination and believing in each other."
Mansfield started the comeback in the third quarter, holding the Lions to just four points.

Hornet center Colleen Copley had four points, while Kelli McPherson and Bowes had threes, getting the Newton South lead to 36-27.
"We knew we had to get the ball inside to Colleen," said Redding.
With 5:02 left to go in the fourth quarter, Mansfield has closed the gap to two on a 3-pointer by Bowes, who had struggled in the first half.
"We just keep telling her shoot," said Redding.
The senior guard appreciated the support.
"I was getting down on myself, added Bowes. "The team picked me right back up."
Mansfield had the lead for the first time in the game at 37-36 on three by Bowes with 4:09 left.

The Lions weren't able to get the lead back.
Mansfield built the lead up to seven on a drive to by McPherson for a 42-37 lead, but the Lions were able to get it to two at the end.
"We have good team chemistry," said McPherson. "We had to play defense and play under control."
Sophomore guard Kayla Burton had two three-pointers in the first quarter as the Newton South jumped out to an 18-6 lead after one.

BOX SCORE:
At Massasoit Community College, Brockton
Mansfield (24-1)-Kelli McPherson 1 0-0-11, Bridget Davis 2 0-0 4, Victoria Shannon 1 0-0-2, Colleen Copley 2 4-7 8, Michelle Bowes 0 3-4 15, Kathryn Campbell 5 0-2 10 Totals-11-6-7-13-47
Newton South (21-2)-Sophie Bikofsky 1 1-1 8, Kayla Burton 0 2-2 8, Chloe Rothman 2 1-3 8, Ana Horowitz 1 2-5 6, Kendall Burton 4 1-1 9 Semira Haghayeghi 0 0-0 0, Jocie Collins 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12-6-7-9-45
Three-pointers- Mansfield 6-McPherson 3, Bowes 3; Newton South 8-Bikofsky, Kayla Burton 2, Rothman 2, Haghayeghi