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Sports

Mansfield Patch's Whiz Kid of the Week: Michael Lofton

Boys' basketball captain soared to high places with the Hornets.

The Mansfield boys’ basketball team had a spectacular season this year, led by senior captain Michael Lofton. The boys brought home the Division 1 South title with a 24-3 record. Despite losing to St. John’s Prep in the Division 1 state semifinal at the TD Boston Garden, Lofton is proud to have been a part of such a successful team.

He said he started playing basketball when he was 3-years-old. He played for Mansfield High School for four years and was on varsity for three of them.

Lofton mostly plays point guard and occasionally power forward. His teammates elected him to be a captain this year; rounding out a great four years.

“It was a huge honor,” he said. “My teammates really though that I could be one of the captains of the team and they had faith in me.”

In his senior year as captain, Lofton averaged 13.5 points, 11 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2 blocked shots, 2.5 steals and shot 60-percent from the floor, according to head coach Mike Vaughn.

“He’s a tremendous teammate,” Vaughn said. “He’s energetic, he’s fun at practice, just a well-rounded kid.”

The team played at the TD Boston Garden last season as well so Lofton was familiar with the feelings stirred up by playing in a professional arena but it did not diminish his excitement this year.

“It was an amazing experience,” Lofton described. “We did it last year so two times in a row, it was just like, ‘wow, not many teams get to do this.’ We just cherished the moment.”

Even as a leader on the team, you might think it would be difficult or even impossible to maintain you’re composure when you walk into such a monumental venue. It's the building you see on television all the time and you look around at the seats to see that the people wearing green are not cheering for the Celtics but are there to support you. None of that distracted Lofton.

“We didn’t get caught up in the glamor and stuff like that,” he said. “We just had to get out there and still play our game.”

And play they did. Lofton said the highlight of his season was not just going to the Garden three times or winning the Division 1 South title, but also making it to the semifinals and going up against St. John’s Prep.

“That was one of my biggest goals,” he said.

His coach said he envisions a great future for him on the court.

“I know he’s going to play in college somewhere,” Vaughn said. “A lot of it just depends on where he chooses to go. If he continues to progress and work at it he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

Lofton said he is planning to play in college. He said he has not decided where he wants to go, but he has looked into a few schools, including Bridgewater State, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth and Framingham State.

He will be keeping in shape this spring by playing in local leagues that are intended for students who plan to play at the college level.

Besides being a leader and a great teammate on the court, Lofton is an outgoing young man who likes to hang out and enjoy life. He spends free time with friends and family who all watched as an incredible season came to an end.

“They felt very proud of me,” Lofton said of his family and friends, “especially my parents. They thought it was a great go and they thought I worked hard enough for it and they were very proud of me for doing that.”

Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the young star in college next season.

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