“Overall we had a good season,” says Manikowski of the Tigers’ final 17-8 mark,  “but I think we were hoping for a little more. We achieved some of our goals such as winning the Josh Palmer Tournament and making the finals of the NTL Showdown and we fell short in a few others .. which was disappointing.”

A highlight for the Tigers was the fourth and final season of high-caliber play from senior standout Dominick, who came into the winter having scored his 1,000th point as a junior and would finish with 1,810 career points after averaging 24.7 points per game this year. 

The versatile Dominick scored his 617 points this season in virtually every way possible .. 37 threes, shooting 72% from the line, drives to the basket, acrobatic finishes, dunks, and pull-up jumpers from anywhere on the floor .. and hit for 20-plus in 21 of the Tigers’ 25 games, had over 30 four times and scored a career-high 41 in a mid-season win over Wyalusing. 

Dominick also led the Tigers with 7 rebounds per game and handed out 3 assists per outing and was Mansfield’s high scorer in every game this season, despite being the center of every opposing team’s defensive plan.

“Karson was the focus of every team to try to slow him down,” says Manikowski, “yet he still produced game in and game out. He gave everything he had on both ends of the floor every single game and he deserves every single award and accolade he receives in the post season.”

Other than Dominick, the majority of the remaining Tigers’ starters all missed time .. some considerable .. due to injuries.

“We only played about five games with our original starting lineup,” explains Manikowski, “which wasn't ideal but definitely not an excuse either. But it did seem like we were trying to reinvent ourselves throughout the season with our injuries .. and at times we had guys playing out of position out of necessity. Again, no excuses. I’m very proud of the players for battling through the adversity.”

Junior Cooper Shaw had a pair of 21-point games and a 19-point effort during the season while averaging 10.5 points and 3.2 assists per game as the Tigers’ second scoring option, while junior point guard Alex Davis added 7 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot per game in his 11 games of action. Davis was injured in the first Troy loss, just six games into the season, and returned to play in the final five games..

Junior Tayton Strange hit double-digits six times during the season and had a 20-point game while averaging 7.5 points and nearly 3 steals per game as a season-long starter, while sophomores Andy Hermansen (5.1 ppg, 3 rpg, 24 assists) and Jason Harer (4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 14 blocks) both spent time in the starting five while also missing time with injuries.

Junior Brady Stetter saw some starts and had 16 and 10-point games while averaging 3.3 points and 3.7 boards per game while leading the Tigers with 27 blocked shots, while junior Talon D’Angelo and senior Cade Kurzejewski (2.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg) also each earned starting nods throughout the season.

“Cade was one of the hardest working players on the team,” says Manikowski of one of his only three seniors in Kurzejewski, “He would show up each day and do the dirty work on defense and rebounding .. which sometimes gets overlooked by the casual fan but is vitally important to a team. Cade worked himself into a starting position during the latter part of the season due to his hard work and hustle.”

Of his third senior, Dante Stiger, Manikowski says, “Each of our seniors brought something special to the team. Dante was our shooter coming off the bench and he could stretch defenses with his three point shooting.”

Coach Manikowski will have a strong core of experienced underclassmen back next season, each of who has benefitted from playing with one of the top players to ever come through the Mansfield program, as well as the NTL, in Dominick.

“The program will definitely miss them (the seniors) next year,” says Manikowski, “But Karson set a great example for our other players every single day. They were a great group of boys to coach and they played hard right to the end.”