Mansfield rides hot hand of Foley (31 points) to advance

MANSFIELD >> With Mansfield backed into a corner, Trevor Foley rose to the occasion.

Despite being without leading scorer Davon Sanders, Mansfield turned in another superb performance as Foley scored 31 points and added 15 rebounds to lead the No. 5 Hornets past No. 12 Burlington, 62-51, on Wednesday night.

The Hornets (20-4) will play Somerset-Berkley in the Div. 2 boys basketball state quarterfinals Friday night.

“I knew someone had to step up, but I feel like we all stepped up,” Foley said. “Maybe the box score says otherwise, but that’s not what we did on the court. We all stepped up in our own individual ways.”

The 31 points is a careerhigh for Foley. Foley’s performance is another strong outing for the senior in a season in which the Hornets have been dealt their share of blows. In the preseason, returning Boston Herald all-scholastic Eddie McCoy suffered a seasonending injury. Then, prior to Wednesday’s game, the Hornets discovered Sanders would be out with an illness.

“Trevor was the first person I saw at practice on Monday when I found out Devon would be out and we both looked at each other and he just said, ‘Coach, I got this,’ ” Mansfield coach Mike Vaughan said. “That speaks volumes to the type of kid he is.”

Foley scored 10 of his points in the first quarter to help the Hornets get up 18-12 after one.

Burlington came to life from beyond the arc in the second frame with star Cedric Rodriguez (19 points) burying two triples to tie the game, but Nate Creedon hit a three-pointer before the buzzer to put Mansfield up 26-23 at the break.

The Hornets extended the lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter with Riley Sigman burying a wing triple around a Foley layup to put Mansfield up 35-27. A Foley breakaway slam put the Hornets up nine, 46-37, early in the fourth and a Justin Curtis threepointer gave the Hornets a double-digit lead for the first time.

Rodriguez tried to will Burlington back into the game by connecting on a three-point play and a triple to pull the visitors within 55-51. Foley, however, hit two free throws to push Mansfield back up six. Moments later, Creedon came through with a key layup and Sigman picked off a Red Devils pass and laid it home to put the game out of reach.