Boys basketball: Black River hangs onto ball to hold off Mansfield Christian in season opener

SULLIVAN TWP. — Once Black River started taking care of the basketball it was able to take care of Mansfield Christian. The Pirates took care of the basketball when it mattered most Saturday night in a 57-56 comeback win over Mansfield Christian in the season opener for both teams. Through three quarters, Black River had turned the ball over 22 times to allow Mansfield Christian to jump out to a 45-40 lead heading into the final period. But the Pirates turned it over just once in the fourth as they outscored the Flames 17-11 behind junior Cayden Hinderman-Powell, who scored nine of his team-high 18 points in the quarter. Mansfield Christian had a contested look for the win in the game's final second, but sophomore Amarr Davis' 15-footer didn't fall. The Pirates outrebounded the Flames 48-35, led by Hinderman-Powell with 10. "Cayden is a special player, no doubt," said Black River coach J.R. Wilson, who won his debut as the Pirates coach, beating the school where he coached the girls team to 90 wins. "I think he's going to grow even more this season and is going to surprise a lot of people." The Flames had a 54-51 lead with 2:30 left in the fourth and Davis gave them a 56-55 lead with 1:37 showing on the clock, but Griffin Baker missed the front end of a one-and-one before Peter Jeske tipped in an Andon O'Neal miss with 56.8 seconds remaining to give the Pirates a 57-56 lead. Neither team scored again. Davis, a sophomore, led Mansfield Christian with 20 points and eight rebounds. He added eight steals and a blocked shot, but it wasn't enough. He also sat the final 3:13 of the third quarter and the first three minutes of the fourth after being whistled for his fourth foul. "It's hard when you have to sit a kid on the bench for so long, then to have him come back and get things going again," Mansfield Christian coach Cary Cramer said. "We've got to fight through that. This is the first game of the season. (Black River) is much better than they have been over the last few years. "They played hard, we played hard and tonight it just didn't go our way." Hinderman-Powell was 8-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-5 from 3-point range. "I was just giving it my all, playing good defense and trying to get to the rack," Hinderman-Powell said. "My 3-point shot wasn'ot there so I tried to get to the rack and to do whatever I could do to help my teammates." Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Black River 57, Mansfield Christian 56 MANSFIELD CHRISTIAN (56): Braden Loose 4-0-11, Amarr Davis 9-2-20, Gabe Westfield 0-0-0, Isaac Vance 2-2-6, Billy Killian 3-1-7, Davis Wushinske 2-0-4, Bryce Courser 2-2-8. Totals 22-7-56.BLACK RIVER (57): Andon O'Neal 1-0-2, Logan Clifford 3-0-8, Nathan Urbas 0-3-3, Peter Jeske 1-2-5, Cayden Hinderman-Powell 8-0-18, Evan Ladina 1-1-3, Johnny Kray 3-0-7, Daniel Jeske 4-1-9, Steven Kubitzka 1-0-2. Totals 22-7-57.Mansfield Christian&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;56Black River&emsp; &emsp;18&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;52Three-point goals: Mansfield Christian 5-20 (Loose 3, Coursier 2), Black River 6-17 (Clifford 2, Hinderman-Powell 2, P. Jeske, Kray). Field goals: Mansfield Christian 22-64 (34.3 percent), Black River 22-51 (43.1 percent). Free throws: Mansfield Christian 7-15 (46.6 percent), Black River 7-12 (58.3 percent). Rebounds: Black River 48 (Hinderman-Powell 10), Mansfield Christian 35 (Davis 8). Turnovers: Mansfield Christian 11, Black River 23. Total fouls: Mansfield Christian 14, Black River 14. Junior varsity: Black River, 56-46