MANSFIELD, Mass. – As if Mansfield didn’t have a good enough first half, building an impressive 43-14 lead by the break, the Hornets were nearly flawless in the third quarter to put an end to any comeback bids.
The Hornets went 11/13 from the field in the third quarter, running away with an 83-41 win over the visiting Rocketeers of North Attleboro.
Even more impressive, the Hornets had 10 assists on the 11 made field goals — the lone bucket without a field goal was a putback on a miss. The Hornets did have four turnovers in the period but had just one missed shot that resulted in a defensive rebound for North.
“I thought right from the get-go we did a tremendous job of setting the tone defensively,” said Mansfield head coach Mike Vaughan. “Then offensively we picked our spots and got into a nice rhythm. We picked our spots when to dribble, when to keep the ball moving, when to break guys down off the dribble. The point totals were awesome to me, getting that many guys in the book and scoring six, eight, 12, 15 points is a good thing.”
Christian Weber had a terrific game with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists — scoring six points and adding two assists in the third quarter — while Sam Goldberg added 15 points and four rebounds. Max Boen recorded 14 points and eight rebounds after missing one game with an injury, Tyler Boulter netted eight points and Evan Christo finished with seven points and three rebounds.
In the third quarter, Goldberg netted eight points, Weber had six, Boen had four, Ryan Otto and Phil Vigeant each hit a three and Boulter added two. Ben Albanese had four assists, Weber had three, Vigeant had two and Sam Hyland had one helper.
“We made the right choices on both ends of the floor,” Vaughan said. “I thought we did a good job of when we helped, and when we didn’t, and we never really over-rotated. Offensively I thought Weber did a great job in transition of picking when we go and put pressure and when we pull out and reverse. I thought the combination was good. We’re getting healthy and as we get our sea legs underneath us a group, I think this is a little bit of a sign we can be down the stretch. They’re starting to believe and good things are starting to happen.”
Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Hornets to start the game while things couldn’t have been much worse for the Rocketeers.
North’s Brent Doherty (seven points) scored the opening basket of the game but Mansfield came storming back to build an 11-2 lead midway through the first quarter. The second four minutes continued to go in Mansfield’s favor and the Hornets held a 21-4 advantage after just eight minutes.
Mansfield shot 8/18 from the field in the first quarter, including a trio of trifectas. Meanwhile, North Attleboro was just 2/15 field (0/6 from deep), including misses on some open looks.
“All the credit in the world goes to Mansfield,” said North Attleboro head coach Sean Mulkerrins. “Their kids shared the ball well, they made shots early and they are tough team to play against from behind. When you get behind a team like Mansfield, the kids naturally start to press a little bit. We talked at halftime about still trying to do our stuff and be us and not get out of our comfort zone. Mansfield defended really well, they shot really well and that’s why they are who they are.”
The Hornets kept up its efficient offense in the second quarter, shooting 10/16 from the field with four more assists. Mansfield totaled 20 assists for the game.
“The ball distribution was great. Everyone was moving the ball, it wasn’t just one or two guys. I thought everyone did a good job sharing the basketball.”
Jonny Friberg led the Rocketeers in scoring with 13 points and four rebounds. Beyond Doherty’s even points, Matt Seavey had six points and Derek Shanks netted five points.
Mansfield (11-2 overall, 9-1 Hockomock) is back in action in a big non-league clash with Bridgewater-Raynham on Sunday at 5:15. North Attleboro (8-5, 5-4) will take on Milford at 11:45AM at the Dunkin Donuts Center in a battle of Davenport division leaders.
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