With the top-3 District IV 3A teams advancing to States, North Penn-Mansfield’s season comes to an end with the loss. 

Senior Cooper Shaw led Mansfield with 18 points in his final game, netting 7 in the Tigers’ big first quarter run that had them up 15 points with two minutes remaining in the period. 

Senior Tate Strange opened the game’s scoring with a bucket and hit a corner three for all of his 5 game points in the run while classmate Brady Stetter added 4 points on a bucket off a nice pass from senior Alex Davis and a put-back off a missed three. 

After a Shaw jumper made it 18-3 with 2 minutes left in the first, Southern Columbia cut into the lead with two scores to end the first frame down 18-7. 

Davis opened the second quarter with a reverse lay-up off a Shaw assist, but Mansfield would get just one more basket, by Stetter, and a pair of Davis free throws while Southern scored 12 points to cut NPM’s lead to 24-19 at the break. 

Southern scored the first 5 points of the second half to complete a 21-6 run over less than 11 minutes of game time and the score was tied at 24-all. 

Mansfield then went on a small run of their own, as Stetter scored inside and hit a pair of free throws and Shaw hit a runner to give North Penn-Mansfield a 30-24 lead with 5 minutes left in the third. 

Southern cut the lead to 2 points before Shaw drained a three and Davis hit a fadeaway from the lane, sandwiched around a pair of Southern freebies and the score stood at 35-30 Mansfield. A breakaway dunk by Shaw put the Tigers up 7, but the Southern Tigers answered with 5 points before the end of the quarter and Mansfield led by two, 37-35 as they went to the final frame.

Southern Columbia tied it up once again early in the fourth before Shaw finished a baseline drive with six and a half minutes remaining for the 39-37 lead, and Southern again answered, tying things up at 39 with just over six minutes left. 

The score remained knotted for nearly three minutes of game time as both teams struggled to score, but Southern connected with less than three and a half minutes left to take their first lead of the game at 41-39.

More than two minutes later, Shaw again finished at the rim, tying the game up at 41-all.

With the time running down, Southern came out of a time-out and scored inside with :06.8 showing on the clock. Mansfield did get off a three before time ran out, but it was no good and Southern Columbia escaped with the win. 

Stetter joined Shaw in double figures with 10 points while Davis added 8 points to Strange’s 5 as the four senior starters were the only Mansfield players to score in the loss. 

Southern Columbia made 11 of their 15 free throw attempts in the game while NPM made all four of their tries. 

The season-ending loss leaves North Penn-Mansfield with an overall record of 21-6, which includes a 15-2 mark in the NTL and an 8-2 record in the large school division.

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