It was a game that featured 176 total points and multiple eye-popping dunks. But both teams had the same goal regardless of outcome — learn and grow.
MANSFIELD - This stretch of the season was circled on the calendar for both programs.
Massillon Washington just capped off a three-game road trek over the course of a week featuring games at Alliance, Canton Central Catholic, and Mansfield Senior on Tuesday.
"We know that they're talented, they have three losses to some pretty good teams between two league games and then Lima Senior," Washington coach Josh Hose said. "Our guys knew the challenge was coming into a new environment with a new opponent we haven't seen before, and keep our momentum going. We didn't look great in the first half ... they speed us up and turned us over, which is what we usually do to teams.
"But I told our guys it's kind of like looking in the mirror when you watch them on film. Mansfield is traditionally a very, very good basketball program, so we expected a tough game coming in here."
Mansfield Senior hosted Dover on Friday in a massive Ohio Cardinal Conference clash, traveled to Division II No. 2 Lima Senior on Saturday, then welcomed Division II No. 3 Washington. The Tygers got the better of Dover before dropping back-to-back games, most recently 96-80 to the Tigers of Washington.
"Preseason looking at our schedule, we knew this would be the toughest stretch of our season," Senior coach Marquis Sykes said. "We knew coming in that Dover would be one of the top teams in the conference, we knew Lima Senior and Massillon both would be one of the best teams in the state, and then we have New Philadelphia on Friday on a serious winning streak.
"The best way for us to bounce back is to get in the film room, watch the game, break things down, and figure out where we can learn and grow."
And that's all both coaches truly wanted out of this exciting old school rivalry clash. No conference implications, minimal tournament-seeding effects, just two teams eager to get better and play their best basketball in March.
"A non-conference game and traditional rival of ours, we've had a lot of great battles with Massillon over the years," Sykes said. "We wanted to see our guys come out fight and we wanted to see them compete. I felt like we did that for a half, but the second half was not up to the standard we have. Slow starts in the third quarter, for whatever reason, have been an issue, so I've gotta figure out some ways to make sure we're ready to roll and start the third quarter."
Senior led 22-18 after one and 44-40 at the half before Washington shifted the momentum quickly hitting big shots and forcing turnovers that led to transition buckets.
"But credit to our guys, they came back ... and at halftime we said it was a blessing to be down four with the way we were playing," Hose said. "We were a little sloppy and sluggish on defense, and offensively we weren't moving the ball well. They started that second half trying to find our feet a little bit, then next thing I know we're up six or seven and we just kept at it."
The visiting Tigers used a 26-16 third quarter to flip a deficit into a 66-60 lead heading into the fourth and never looked back nearly reaching the century mark by the final buzzer.
"We were getting killed on the offensive glass in the first half so we talked to the guys at halftime about it," Hose said. "In the second half we did a better job rebounding because we're not very big, Mansfield is similar to us where we're athletic, but not huge."
That led to big second half performances from Xavier Williams, Gio Jackson Jr., and Jadyce Thigpen. Williams had 16 of his 18 in the final two frames, Jackson added 11 of his 15 after the intermission, and Thigpen eight of his 10. Terrion Wells led the Tigers with 25 — 15 coming in the second quarter — and Braylon Gamble had 23.
"They do a good job of not really caring who gets the shot attempt, they share the ball ... they make the extra pass, and they do a great job of cutting to the basket," Sykes said. "That's a really good basketball team noted by their state ranking. It's disheartening a bit because we didn't play our best basketball in the second half."
Kaylen Brooks had a quiet first quarter with five points before erupting for 27 over the final three for a game-high 32, Rashad Reed Jr. added 14, Davion Mack 10, DJ Corbin eight.
"I watched a couple films, he's a talented scorer," Hose said of Brooks. "He's very, very good at just finding ways (to score) ... so we said to make him make tough ones. We had to limit the other guys ... the games they get 14 and 15, they're a real danger, so trying to limit them and make (Brooks) take tough 2s and 3s, then rebound the misses."
Mansfield Senior travels to New Philadelphia on Friday as league play resumes while Massillon Washington gets another taste of OCC hoops this weekend hosting Ashland on Saturday.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Massillon boys basketball drops 96 on longtime rival Senior High
Category: General Sports
