Sandusky loses late 9-point lead, falls to Mansfield Sr.

SANDUSKY — This one is going to sting for a bit. With perhaps the biggest week of the regular season coming up for Sandusky, the tough feeling can't last for long. Ahead for the entire second half, the Blue Streaks watched a nine-point lead with 90 seconds to go disappear as Mansfield Senior saved its best for last, topping Sandusky 85-80 in non-league action Saturday afternoon. "Unforced turnovers have been our Achilles' heel the entire season," Streaks coach DeMar Moore said. "I think in the majority of our losses, I bet I can count 10 or 15 unforced turnovers. I think we had five in a row in the fourth quarter. I told the guys we were four passes from a win. It's something we'll learn from." Kylen Brooks was the catalyst for the Tygers throughout. He hit a 3-pointer to bring Mansfield within 79-73 with 1:29 to go. After a timeout, he picked a steal, was fouled and made two free throws. Another Sandusky (9-7) turnover led to Mansfield's Davion Mack splitting two free throws. The Streaks were able to steady the ship for a minute, getting Ahmaj Woolfork to the foul line. He made one to put Sandusky up 80-76 with 57 seconds remaining. Brooks scored on the other end before the Streaks committed another turnover. Mansfield quickly got the ball to Brooks, who canned a 3 to suddenly put Sandusky down 81-80 with 35 seconds left. The teams exchanged timeouts before Sandusky missed a shot. Dajahn Corbin was fouled, splitting a pair for Mansfield. The Tygers (11-5) grabbed the offensive rebound on the miss and Andrew Brooks scored to make it 84-80. After another Sandusky turnover, Kylen Brooks made a free throw to put the finishing touches on a shocking loss for the Streaks. Tempers flared between both teams after the game leading to police separating the sides and sending fans out of the gym in quick order. "If you combine our missed turnovers with our layups and our lack of defense, I think we just got comfortable," Moore said. "We gave them quite a few open looks down the stretch and credit to them. They knocked them down. For the most part, I think us not being able to handle their pressure hurt us." Sandusky played well until late in the fourth quarter. In the second quarter, the Streaks used a 16-0 run to go from down 25-20 to up 36-25. Buckets from Kymirr Hunter and Anthony Redding capped the run. After Andrew Brooks hit a 3 for Mansfield, Camrion Jones and Ta'Varieon Myers scored to give Sandusky a 40-28 lead at halftime. "I think we kept the floor spaced out," Moore said. "We picked our spots. We did a good job of getting the ball inside and playing from the inside out. I think we played a solid game in the first half." Jones opened the second half with a 3, but the Tygers answered and got within 45-38. In response, Jones made two free throws, Woolfork tallied a three-point play and Redding put down a thunderous dunk for a 52-38 advantage. The lead reached 18 points on two free throws from Woolfork, but Mansfield played tough. Andrew Brooks scored and two free throws from Corbin helped the Tygers get within 58-46. Kaylen Brooks put in a score to help slice the deficit to 60-52 after three quarters. D'Vontae Johnson scored to open the fourth quarter for the Tygers, but Dale Johnson and Jones each scored and Jones' tally pushed Sandusky up 67-54 with 5:54 left. Kaylen Brooks finished with 35 points for Mansfield. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter. "He's a good player," said Moore of the sophomore. "He's a volume player. He takes a lot of shots. He might miss three in a row, but he's going to come back and hit three in a row. When you're playing against a guy like that, you have to make everything tough for him." The loss overshadowed some massive performances from Sandusky. Jones scored 24 points. It came one game after scoring 35 points in Thursday's win over Norwalk. "He's seeing some shots fall," Moore said. "When they go in for him, he usually gets going. I'm happy for Cam with how he's been playing these last two games. Hopefully he can keep it going." Johnson tallied 24 points and 18 rebounds. He had 18 points and 14 rebounds in the first half, but was limited by Mansfield in the second half. Redding added 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Streaks. "Dale was a load in the middle today," Moore said. "We leaned on him quite a bit in the first half. I think we got away from feeding him in the second half and that hurt us. "Scooter (Redding) was active tonight. He was trying to get a hand on everything, offensively and defensively. He had a great game. He played with a lot of energy, which was key for us." Sandusky (5-1 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division) travels to Bellevue (11-5, 4-2) on Tuesday and hosts Div. IV No. 3 Perkins (15-0, 6-0) on Friday in massive league games. "We'll prepare for Tuesday the way we normally do," Moore said. "Who knows what the weather will bring. We'll make sure we're ready if the game is on. We'll get back to work Monday if we can have practice and go from there." MANSFIELD SENIOR (11-5) Davion Mack 6 2-5 16, Kaylen Brooks 12 6-9 35, DaJahn Corbin 1 6-8 8, Andrew Brooks 6 2-2 16, Rashad Reed 1 2-2 4, D'Vontae Johnson 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 29 18-26 85 SANDUSKY (9-7) Anthony Redding 5 1-2 11, Dale Johnson 9 6-8 24, Ahmaj Woolfork 3 6-9 12, Camrion Jones 8 6-6 24, Kymirr Hunter 2 1-2 5, Ta'Varieon Myers 1 0-0 2, Daishun Brown 1 0-3 2. TOTALS 29 20-31 80 Mansfield 16 12 14 33 — 85 Sandusky 18 22 20 20 — 80 Three-point goals: Mansfield 9 (K. Brooks 5, Mack 2, A. Brooks 2); Sandusky 2 (Jones 2)