Lady Lions beat rival Ava, take fourth in own tournament

With their first round win in the 34th Annual Lady Lion Invitational Tournament, the Mansfield Lady Lions’ basketball team was riding a four game winning streak.
Unfortunately, sickness hit the school, which led to a game against Mountain Grove being forfeited. This then carried over into the third place game against Summit Conference rival Fordland as the Lady Lions were unable to take advantage of the Lady Eagles’ foul trouble in a 50-41 loss.
Both teams went back-and-forth early when Fordland standout Kayleigh Steimel picked up her second foul just three minutes into the game.
Mansfield’s Elly Williams took advantage with a free throw and a pair of baskets. She scored seven of her team’s 13 points in the quarter, but her team trailed 15-13 entering the second.
Steimel then picked up her third foul just 45 seconds into the next quarter.
As Fordland missed their first four shots from the field, Mansfield took a two-point lead on a pair of free throws.
The Lady Eagles answered though with a 6-0 run from the free throw line as Mansfield also turned the ball over three times.
Fordland’s offense made just 1-of-14 shots from the field in the frame, but made 7-of-8 free throws to take a 25-21 lead at the break.
Addie Jones scored the opening basket in the second half to cut the lead to two.
It stayed that way through much of the quarter until Fordland pushed the lead to five points heading into the final eight minutes of play.
The lead was at seven in the fourth when Jones hit a big 3-pointer to cut it back to 40-36.
Mansfield made just 4-of-14 shots from the field in the final quarter and made just 1-of-4 free throws as they lost the game by nine.
Jones, an All-Tournament selection, scored 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Williams, also an All-Tournament selection, scored 18 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and one assist.
Cali Lemons finished with eight points, five assists, one rebound and one steal; Haven Tripp added four points, nine rebounds, two steals and one block; and Kayley Kingery had two points and one rebound for Mansfield.
In their lone win, the Lady Lions avenged an earlier overtime loss to the Ava Lady Bears and this time picked up a 52-46 victory.
The Lady Lions had a hot start, scoring 18 points in the opening quarter with the help of seven points from both Jones and Tripp.
Ava rallied in the second quarter and took a two-point lead into halftime.
Mansfield earned their way to the free throw line in the third quarter, making 5-of-8 for an 11-5 run.
Williams scored eight points in the final eight minutes of play to help seal the win in Mansfield’s opening contest..
Jones finished with a team-high 18 points; both Tripp and Williams had 12 points; Lemons had six points; and Kingery added four points.