Stoughton High Girls' Basketball Team Loses Defenisve Battle to Mansfield

In a game were scoring was at a premium, the Mansfield High girls' basketball team had just a little more offense than their counterparts, coming away with a 39-29 win at home Tuesday night.

"It was little more of a defensive battle," said Mansfield High head coach Mike Redding. "I thought it was going to be little more of a shoot out."

After the game, both coaches praised their defenses.

"My kids played very good defense tonight," said Stoughton High head coach Janet Sullivan. "I was very pleased with that, but we just went ice cold and there was too many turnovers to start the third quarter. We just didn't hit our outside shots."

Mansfield pitched a rare shutout in the third quarter, turning a 16-16 tie into a 28-16 lead heading into the final quarter.

"I was more worried at halftime about offense than defense, but defense was definitely the story of the night in the third quarter," said Redding. "We kind of got back on track on offense.

"In the second quarter, we got too impatient with too many quick threes. In the second half, we took the three, but we waited longer in the possession and got better looks."

Michaela Bowes led the Hornets with 11 points, while Erin Glavin had seven, Katelyn McCarthy and Kelly English, six.

Junior Nicole Daniels was the top scorer for the Black Knights with 10 points, while Jackie Kuhn had seven. Chrystal Holland added six.

Stoughton outscored Mansfield 13-11 in the fourth, but the Hornets held on for the 10-point win.

After a slow start to the game, the Black Knights were able to turn it into a closer game as Holland had a big three-pointer from the top of the key to get to within one, at 14-13.

Mansfield was also went cold from the outside, scoring only two points, allowing the Black Knights to get back in the game.

Holland tied the game at 16 with 1:54 left in the half, driving to the hoop. She was fouled on the play, but couldn't convert her free throw attempt. That turned out to be the final score of the first half.

In the first quarter, Mansfield went on a 7-1 run, led by the shooting of Glavin and Bowes to jump out a 13-4 lead.

"Both teams played exactly the same game the entire time," said Sullivan. "In the first half, we both went for threes and we both missed threes. In the second half, both took threes and they hit them."

Mansfield (5-3 overall, 4-0 in the league) will face a tough test Friday night at Oliver Ames, while Stoughton (3-4) will host North Attleboro. Both games are 6:30 p.m. contests.