BEARCATS TOSS MANSFIELD IN HOME OPENER

The Booneville Bearcat basketball team had a week to stew over their season opening loss.

The Bearcats (1-1) were definitely cooking Tuesday night with a 59-28 win over Mansfield in what served as both the home opener and the annual Ethan Napier Toy Toss game.

Citing the football playoffs, Hector declined to play the Bearcats last Thursday, shortening that night to a three game session.

Last night Mansfield, missing nine players still in football, and the Bearcats, missing seven themselves, went at it.

Noah Harrel hit a 3 to touch off the toy toss and the Bearcats went on to open a 7-0 lead by the 5:52 mark of the opening quarter with Harrel and Cody Sum adding baskets and Mansfield (1-2) took a time out.

Sum was on his way to a 25-point effort and Harrel would finish with 10 points and seven steals.

Sum scored again before the Tigers got on the scoreboard then halted a 5-0 Tiger run but Mansfield would get within 11-7 before an Aiden Carter basket made it 13-7 through a quarter.

The Tigers would again get within four at 16-12 with 5:13 left in the half but Sum took it over from there. The junior scored eight more points before halftime and along with a basket by Harrel it was 26-17 at the intermission.

The Bearcats put the game away with an 11-0 run to start the second half with Sum, Harrel, Wesley Fonseca and Nate Smith all contributing and it was a 20-point lead for head coach Ronnie Denton’s team.

Even after a 3 got Mansfield on the board in the second half the Bearcats scored the net seven with Smith, who would finish with 12 points, hitting from both inside and outside the three-point arc.

The lead was 23 when the final quarter began and it was Smith scoring to make it 54-24 to accelerate the final 3:43 of the game due to the sportsmanship rule.

A conventional three-point play by Macolen Tillery and a basket by Fonseca, who was the rebounding leading on the night with seven, completed the Bearcat scoring.

Girls

Lexi Franklin scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out five assists and had two steals but it would not be enough for the Lady Bearcats in a 58-46 loss, marking the first setback under Katelyn Holub.

The Lady Bearcats started the night with a Franklin basket and after a tie at 2-2 got a 3 from Angie Brown and a conventional three-point play from Franklin and led 8-2.

The lead would grow by one, to 12-5, on a basket by Bailey Parnell but Mansfield had cut it to 12-11 with 6:29 left in the first half.

A Linley Garrett 3 gave the Lady Bearcats some breathing room but Mansfield scored the next eight and led the rest of the night.

Franklin scored with 1:09 left in the half to cut it to 19-17 but the Lady Tigers pushed it to 21-17 with 17 seconds left in the half.

The deficit would reach nine but a basket by Parnell and five points from Franklin would cut it back to 28-24 with 5:13 to go in the third quarter.

However, the Lady Bearcats scored just once the rest of the quarter and it was 42-26 going to the final frame.

Franklin again led a charge that included a 3 from Garrett that got it back to 10 at 45-35 with 5:34 to go, but when Garrett hit her third 3 of the night the basket would only cut Mansfield’s advantage to 20 at 58-38 with 2:27 to go.

JJ Keatts hit a pair of 3s sand two Emma Ferguson added a pair of free throws to account for the final Lady Bearcat points.

Both the Bearcats and Lady Bearcats will be in action again on Thursday at Atkins on what will be a four game night that also involves the junior high teams.