The Ashland Arrows have advanced to the Division I sectional final at Galion on Friday evening after a 50-19 win over the Madison Rams on Tuesday.  But their opponent in the D-1 sectional is outright OCC champion and second seeded Mansfield Senior.  But regardless of the opposition, Arrows coach Tim Fralick says his team is happy to be moving on with a chance at advancing to the district semifinal next week back at Galion on a Thursday night against either Marion Harding or Norwalk.

The Arrows fell twice to Mansfield during the regular season by scores of 55-44 at Ashland and 80-60 at Pete Henry Gym.  Fralick says the Tygers can hit you with multiple weapons, but he believes it all starts at the point with guard Keon Johnson.  Not only can the senior score from inside and outside, but the 1,000 point scorer does an exceptional job of creating for his teammates and has the ability to play lock down defense. 

Of note, Mansfield Senior's 6'7" junior post Donovyn Benson is questionable for Friday's game vs the Arrows with an injured foot.  If he is unable to play, most of the action down low will have to be handled by 6'6" Tyger junior Robert Jones who has shown the ability to score inside and out.  Ashland enters the game with a modest two game winning streak at 14-9, while Mansfield enters the tournament riding a seven game winning streak at 19-3.

In the recent past the Arrows have shown the ablility to play right with Senior High.  In 2011-'12, Ashland split the regular season series with Mansfield winning the second game at AHS a year ago 74-66.  The Arrows even blew out to a 25 point advantage against the Tygers in last year's sectional final only to have MSH come all the way back to grab an 89-78 win at Willard.