MANSFIELD – In a battle of two of the top boys basketball teams in the Hockomock League, Mansfield used a couple of key runs to put Milford away at home.
No. 8 Mansfield used an 11-0 start and a 15-1 run in the third to put away a tough Milford squad 82-59 in a Hockomock League crossover tilt at Albertini Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
“Coming off the loss Sunday, in which we didn’t do a good job executing offensively or defensively consistently, I thought we did a better job today of really executing more consistently and being a little more patient,” said Hornets coach Michael Vaughan.
To open the third, senior Andrew Rivera (24 points) began to put a mark on the contest and cut the deficit to 43-38. After the teams traded buckets, Mansfield (7-2) put together a 15-1 run to push the lead out to 60-41 thanks in part to some big defensive stops.
“It starts on the defensive end because you start building some confidence,” Vaughan said about the key run. “(Andrew) Rivera is a special player and he was starting to put his mark on the game. … I thought when we got back-to-back stops and scored on both of them that you could kind of see the weight (lifted) off their shoulders.”
Senior captain Riley Sigman netted nine of his 17 in the third with seven coming during the run.
“Early in the year, percentage-wise, (Sigman) was kind of struggling to find his rhythm and he’s slowly starting to find it a bit,” said Vaughan.
In the fourth, the Hornets outscored the Scarlet Hawks 16-10 after a 25-16 winning of the third quarter.
Mansfield was led by junior Gabriel McIntyre with 19 points, but the bench scoring by junior Justin Curtis (11 points) and junior Mason Bordieri (seven points, five rebounds, three steals) really helped them stay afloat.
“Having Justin knock down a couple of shots, especially early, built everyone’s confidence in him to keep going,” Vaughan said about the bench piece.
To get things going, Mansfield opened the contest on an 11-0 run capped by a triple for Sigman after a steal for McIntyre.
McIntyre finished with seven of his 11 first-half points in the first along with seven for junior Thomas Vallett in the opening frame that saw the Hornets in front 24-13.
In the second quarter, Mansfield continued to hold court with some strong outside shooting along with an 8-3 advantage on the offensive boards as the lead went up to 35-21.
Milford (7-3) rallied over the final four minutes with a 12-6 run, including a 7-2 run and a buzzer-beating triple for sophomore Matt DaSilva (seven points) to make it 41-33 at the half. Senior Gustavo Coutinho netted 11 of his 18 points in the first half for the Scarlet Hawks.