Lady Lions beat rival Hartville to win Cabool title

Just 18 days earlier, the Mansfield Lady Lions dropped a tough home game to rival Hartville by six points.
With both teams winning their first two games in the Cabool Invitational Tournament last week, a rematch between the rivals was set for the championship game between the top two seeded teams in the vent.
The Lady Lions made the most of their second chance as they dominated the Lady Eagles in a 51-33 victory to win the first-place plaque. With the title, Mansfield is now the sixth of the eight Wright County basketball teams to win a tournament championship this season.
“This week has been big for us,” said Mansfield head coach Sam Appleby. “It was a completely different team (than when playing Hartville last) and knew what we wanted to do.”
In their last tournament they played at Gainesville, the Lady Lions were second place in that event.
“I felt like we let one get away in Seymour (in the Lady Bulldog title game against Seymour),” said Mansfield head coach Sam Appleby. “We felt disappointed and knew we didn’t want to feel that again…”
In the first quarter, Cali Lemons hit a 3-pointer as part of a 7-2 run to open the game for the Lady Lions.
Hartville’s Kinley Cryer would answer with a pair of 3-pointers to cut the lead to three.
That was when Addie Jones hit a 3-pointer with a shot off the glass at the buzzer to put the Lady Lions up 16-10. She had eight points in the frame.
Haven Tripp hit a pair of free throws and Lemons added a basket early in the second quarter. Jones nearly completed a 3-point play as Mansfield opened the frame with a 7-0 run.
Hartville answered with a 6-0 run on 3-point shots from Sarah Palmer and Cryer.
Mansfield did take a 25-16 lead into halftime as the Lady Eagles missed all six of their free throws in the first half.
The Lady Lions opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run that featured a big 3-pointer by Gentry Alsup as Mansfield went up 34-18.
Maddie Brown scored four points and Cryer added a late 3-pointer as Hartville did cut the lead back to 13 points heading into the final eight minutes of play.
The lead went down to 11 points when Mansfield’s Elly Williams scored a big basket. She added a late free throw.
Lemons scored six points in the quarter as Mansfield would win the game by 18.
Mansfield’s offense made 17-of-49 shots from the field in the win.
Lemons was the tournament MVP as she finished the championship game with 13 points, four rebounds, one steal and one assist.
Williams, Mansfield’s other All-Tournament selection, scored 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Addie Jones’ aggressive play was a big key to the win in the rematch.
She had a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Tripp tallied six points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal; Kayley Kingery had three points, two rebounds and one steal; and Alsup added three points, two rebounds and two assists.
Cryer made four 3-pointers for Hartville as the All-Tournament selection scored 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
All-Tournament selection Maddie Brown added 12 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist.
Palmer scored five points, seven rebounds and one assist; while Katia Todd had four points, eight rebounds, four assists and one steal.
In the semifinals, the Lady Lions defeated Bradleyville for the second time in one week.  In this match-up, they defeated the Lady Eagles, 75-50.
Mansfield opened the game with a 27-10 run as Lemons hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 11 points.
Both Jones and Tripp scored six points in the frame.
Lemons added seven points in a 17-point second quarter as the Lady Lions entered the break with a 44-18 lead and never looked back.
Lemons made three, 3-pointers and scored a team-high 31 points. Jones had 15 points; Williams scored 11; Kingery had seven points; Tripp added six; Mylee Sullivan scored three points; and CheyAnn Price scored two points.
In the first round, the Lady Lions defeated host Cabool, 56-24.
Mansfield’s defense held the Lady Bulldogs to seven points or less in all four quarters.
Lemons scored a team-high 20 points; Williams had 10; Jones scored nine points; Napier had six points; Tripp, Sullivan and Alsup each scored three points; while Kingery had two points.
Three days before the tournament began, the Lady Lions traveled to Bradleyville and left with a 63-52 win.
Lemons scored 14 of her team’s 21 points in the first quarter.
Bradleyville cut the lead to just four points before the fourth quarter when the Lady Lions managed to pull away late for the win with the help of Lemons’ five points.
Lemons finished with 25 points; Tripp had 17 points; Jones added 14; Williams had four points; and Kingery scored three points for the Mansfield Lady Lions.