Kiyah Wentz's spark off bench leads Mansfield Senior over Madison in sectional semifinal

MILAN — Kiyah Wentz would much rather be in Mansfield Senior's starting lineup on a nightly basis.

But after Thursday night, a sixth-man role might just grow on her. A senior, Wentz knocked down five first-half 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points as the Tygers beat Madison 53-35 in a Division II sectional semifinal Thursday night at Edison High School.

Mansfield Senior advanced to play No. 1 seed Norwalk for a sectional championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Edison.

Wentz shot 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point line, leading the Tygers to 8-of-17 shooting from deep overall. She was a regular starter before an injury sidelined her for a few games and she lost her starting spot, but she made just as big of an impact Thursday as she would if she was a starter.

"She got injured and our flow was kicking in and going good when she was out and we thought she would give us a huge spark off the bench," Mansfield Senior coach David Phillips said. "And you can see tonight, she did. What is crazy is she has been in a shooting slump the last two games, and I just told her to keep shooting and it will come. We practice all week, and it showed tonight."

Wentz entered the game midway through the first quarter and got right to work. While she was on the bench, she studied the game to figure out positions that would make her successful against the Madison defense, and she then took full advantage to break out of her shooting slump in a major way.

"The first shot, it was hot," Wentz said. "In a sectional semifinal, I knew I had to come out strong, play defense and hit 3s, and tonight we did all three of those.

"I would rather start, but coming off of the bench allows me to get a feel for how the game is going and where I can be successful."

The Tygers (18-5) took a 26-13 halftime lead and never led by less than 10 the rest of the way. Short on available players, they implemented a 2-3 zone to conserve energy.

"We had to go to a 2-3 zone because we were short on players tonight so we needed to conserve some energy and we wanted to force them to take a lot of outside shots," Phillips said. "It was a one-point game last time so we decided to go with a 2-3, get the ball out and go. We didn't want to get away from what we do."

Madison coach Mike Leeper, who just a few weeks earlier watched his Rams nearly upset the Tygers in a 39-38 loss, saw a different Tygers team this time around.

"Our No. 1 thing was to stop the penetration, and I think we did a great job of that, but they got some great shots off," Leeper said. "Sometimes, you just can't cover every phase of their offense, and they did a great job. We struggled offensively and found ourselves too far behind to get back. Our kids played hard, though. My hats off to Mansfield Senior for winning the conference with everything they have been through. We wish them well."

Down 20 to start the fourth quarter, the Rams battled back to get to within 12 but couldn't quite cut it any closer. Still, Leeper said he saw a lot of improvement throughout the year, especially from his younger classes.

"I thought we got better as the season went on," he said. "I like our young group, and all the kids really, but we have a good group in the middle school as well. The kids play sports year-round and I have some nice kids and I am crazy about them. I like what we can build for the future."

Despite a 5-18 record, Leeper enjoyed his first season as Madison's girls basketball coach immensely.

"Kids keep you young," he said. "Over the last couple of weeks, these kids could have packed it in and moved on, but we worked on some things and they got after it. If we come out next year with that attitude, hopefully we will do a lot better."

Chloe Ebeling led the Rams with 13 points and Savanna Rachel had eight.

Kiersten Bradley chipped in with 11 points, Monetta Hilory had nine and Annaleise Norris six points and nine rebounds, and Dazey Manns six points.

"Annaleise is a force down there," Phillips said. "Then when we get Monetta going, we are tough to beat when all three are on. Any given night, we can put it all together, and when we do we will be dangerous."

The Tygers hope that night is Saturday night against the Truckers.

"It will be tough," Phillips said. "Norwalk is very similar to us. I watched them, and they played with physicality and speed. It will be a good game."

jfurr@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Kiyah Wentz leads Mansfield Senior over Madison in girls basketball