Mansfield Timberview boys stay perfect with 56-48 win over Mansfield Summit

By Josh Bowe

Special to the Star-Telegram

MANSFIELD -- Mansfield Timberview coach Duane Gregory said senior point guard J.V. Long affects the game more than what shows in the box score. On Tuesday night, Long's impact was noticeable.

Long scored a game-high 17 points, and Timberview picked up a 56-48 win against Mansfield Summit at Timberview High School. The Wolves are still undefeated at 10-0.

"He's our senior leader and one of our leaders at the guard spot," Gregory said. "We need him. With this group, it's not about any one guy. If everybody does their job together, the results are going to be what we want them to be."

The Wolves led 14-9 after the first quarter, and then Long scored eight of his 10 first-half points in the second quarter to help extend Timberview's lead to 29-17 at halftime.

The Wolves' lead stayed around 11 to 13 points for a majority of the second half, thanks to their defense. Summit (5-8) had trouble getting good looks all night and was forced into bad passes by Timberview.

Timberview converted that defense into instant offense. Junior guard Alex Robinson leaked out a few times in the fourth quarter and helped push the ball when the Wolves' half-court offense stalled. Robinson finished with 13 points.

The Jaguars cut the lead to 42-34 in the fourth quarter behind senior guard Patrick Tshituka, who scored five points in the fourth quarter and had back-to-back buckets to bring the Wolves' lead down to single digits.

That's when Long struck again, scoring a layup off an assist from Robinson and also drawing a foul. After Long made the free throw for his 17th point, Timberview had a 53-43 lead and held on for the victory.

Timberview held Summit to single-digit scoring in every quarter but the fourth, in which Summit outscored Timberview 23-18.

"I liked the intensity we played with on the defensive end at times," Gregory said. "Other times, it wasn't where we need to be. We've got to be able to grind out stops late in games."

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