Tigers extinguish Flames early in sectional title victory

ATTICA — Seneca East took care of business early Friday night in its 56-27 Division VI sectional final win over Mansfield Christian. The Tigers never trailed as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead 90 seconds into the contest and never looked back. "It was just kind of like a microcosm of our whole season," Seneca East coach Anthony Langhurst said. "Obviously, it starts with Luke [Mason], and he gave us a nice boost there to start the game, and then everybody kind of stepping up in their roles."On the opening possession of the game, Seneca East's Landyn Hicks put back an offensive rebound, Mason made a three-pointer from the left wing, and then hit a couple foul shots to cap that initial run.That's when the Flames (12-11) got on the board with a putback from senior Hudson Stigall.Hicks scored inside off an inbounds pass, but Mansfield Christian freshman Teo Butler knocked down a couple free throws in response. An additional foul shot from senior Landin Cyphers got the Flames within four points of Seneca East, 9-5. That was the closest Mansfield Christian would get to catching the Orange & Black for the rest of the night.A couple minutes later, Tiger freshman Jaron Depinet converted a couple free throws, Mason drained a trey and made two points at the charity stripe to end the first quarter with an 11-point lead: 16-5.Depinet came out and hit a short jumper in the lane to start the second quarter.Then Cyphers shot a three-pointer that bounced up and in, but the Tigers' Mason found Depinet inside for points right away.Depinet then returned the favor and dished it to Mason out on the right wing for three points. Not long after, Seneca East senior Brady Bloom made a three of his own from the left corner.Flames' senior Blayne Morrow swished two foul shots to end the 8-0 run from the Tigers. The score sat at 26-10 in favor of the Tigers midway through the second period.After a Mason defensive rebound, Seneca East (17-6) pushed it up the court and Mason threw a long pass to Logan Collins for a windmill layup.It was then that Cyphers hit another three—this time from the left corner. From there, the Tigers ended the first half on an 11-2 run. During it, Seneca East scored on their first four offenses. The stretch started when Mason cashed-in a trey from the right wing to get it back to an 18-point game. Then, Hicks scored in the paint, Mason dribble-penetrated for a right hand lay up, and Ayden Perkins hit two on the free throw line before Mansfield Christian's Cyphers scored inside.The Tigers' Collins scored on a fast break layup, and the Orange & Black led at the half, 39-15.Seneca East's Depinet started the second half with points in the paint, and after that, Flames senior Josiah Schleusener led a 6-0 run over their next three trips down the floor.Schleusener put the ball off of the glass twice and scored again from the blocks to get within 20 points of the Tigers. 41-21.At this point, Perkins through a skip pass to Bloom that left Bloom wide open for a three from the left wing. After a put back bucket from Collins, Bloom assisted Perkins on a trey from the left wing.Mansfield Christian's Butler hit two foul shots, but a three from Tiger senior Nicholas Parks on the next trip down the floor left his team with a 52-23 lead.The Flames' Schleusener scored down low while Butler made two free throws, and SE's Keegan Boes made a wide-open bucket at the rim and Collins banked it in after an offensive board to go into the final period with a 29-point lead: 56-27.SE began the fourth quarter by outscoring Mansfield Christian 7-2 over the first four minutes or so.The Tigers' Collins put back another board then made a foul shot before Depinet laid it up off an alley oop from Mason.A floater in the lane from senior Denver Elliott was the Flames lone points during this span.Parks scored off an inbounds under the basket, but MC quickly responded when Morrow went baseline and scored—it was Tigers 63, Flames 31 at that point.Sophomore Aiden Bame and freshman Colten Young each scored in the paint for Seneca East. Mansfield Christian's Stigall made a single free throw to finalize the scoring in the contest.Mason led all scorers with 15 points—all in the first half. Collins and Depinet each added 10 points in the sectional title effort.Cyphers scored nine points to lead the Flames.Seneca East will face Ashland Crestview (13-10) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Willard's Robert L. Haas Gymnasium in a district seminal matchup.