Thanks to a strong defensive effort and a clutch three from senior Max Arnold, the No. 4 Panthers outlasted No. 5 Mansfield 50-42 at home Friday night in the Div. 2 quarterfinals.
“These kids have put in so much work,” said Plymouth South coach Dave Costa. “People see the great season they are having. A great season? This has been two great years and they’re running. These kids have put in so much work over the last 24 months to get where they are.”
With just a 33-32 lead after three, Plymouth South (20-3) and Mansfield (19-6) traded buckets and leads throughout the final frame.
The Hornets went up 42-39 with 3:25 left on a Darrian Sanders triple, but the Panthers had the last laugh with an 11-0 run, including the go-ahead triple from Arnold with 2:10 remaining to make it 45-42.
“Coach Costa is always telling me to shoot with confidence,” Arnold said. “So, I try to do that every day and it was really great (to see that go in). It’s a great team I have and they always tell me to be confident. So, it was a really good feeling.”
Junior captain Logan Volkringer led the way with 23 points with 12 of those coming in the second half. Arnold added eight and senior captain Shane McDonald chipped in with 10.
In the first half, Mansfield started off on a 7-2 run before Plymouth South exploded with a 13-1 run to end the frame with junior captain Logan Volkringer hitting a buzzer beater in the lane to make it nine in the opening frame to make it 15-8.
After that, the Hornets’ defense took over and allowed 1-of-11 shooting from the field to outscore the Panthers 13-2 with senior Gabriel McIntyre netting 10 in the first half with five in each quarter to lead 21-17 at the half.
“Mansfield is a great team,” Costa said. “They defend really hard. We knew we had to get a little bit more motion on the offensive end and we played great in the first quarter. We knew they would come back and punch us in the mouth and they did (in the second). … We had to adjust at halftime. We told our kids to settle down, let’s make a couple adjustments and then try to get the ball moving more.”
In the third, Plymouth South went up 26-21 to start the third on a 9-0 run before Mansfield settled in. A clutch triple for Arnold made it a 33-32 advantage after three for the Panthers.
Next up, Plymouth South will face top-seeded St. Mary’s of Lynn early next week at a site/date to be determined.
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