Nice road trip to Arizona for the Central Catholic Fighting Irish. Beat Cleveland Heights today in the Championship game and finished the tournament 3-0. Now on to a brutal January schedule.
During the 2002-2003 basketball season, Mansfield Senior’s basketball team made what was probably the longest trip in school’s history—a 424-mile trip to Bristol, Tenn., to play in one of the Southeast’s most prestigious holiday prep tournaments—the Arby’s Classic.
Suffice to say, it was a worthwhile trip
The Tygers, coached by Gregg Collins, won its first three games by a total of seven points, defeating Rimini, a team from Italy, 62-61; Bristol (Tenn.) Tennessee High, 52-49; and Orlando (Fla.) Boone, 72-69, in two overtimes.
They lost in the finals to Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler, 68-51.
Two Mansfield players made the all-tournament team—Antonio Graves and Yima Chia-Kur.
Graves went on to play for Jamie Dixon and the Pitt Panthers in the rugged Big East, while Chia-Kur played two years of junior college ball before finishing his career at Arkansas State.
Both players had productive careers playing in Europe after college.
Maryville, Tenn., led by future Florida Gator and pro player Lee Humphrey, finished in fourth place.
Mentor was the 2012 tourney runner-up, and several Cincinnati and Dayton-area schools have played in the tourney over the years.
Google “Arby’s Classic.” It is an excellent web site.
Two years later, Mansfield Senior achieved a sparkling 24-2 record, losing in the semi-finals of the Division I state championship tournament in Columbus to Canton McKinley, 73-61.
martinrpi.com
