Fighting to the final 4

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Win caps long road stretch and semifinals appearance.
MONTROSE – It was a pretty rough start to say the least. Factor in the 5-hour bus ride, nerves for younger players reaching new heights and a boisterous home crowd.
But Mullen didn’t blink on Friday evening, erupting for a large second quarter, establishing superior, sticky defense and rolling easily to a 62-28 decision of host Montrose on John Mraule Court at Lloyd McMillan Gymnasium. The Mustangs improved to 18-8, are headed to a fourth final four under head coach Frank Cawley and will meet parochial-rival and second-seeded Holy Family of Broomfield on Thursday, 4 p.m., at the Denver Coliseum.
And all of this after travelling 750 miles over four days for two games.
Mullen missed the playoffs a year ago and had to settle for a 14th seed this go-round, so a lack of motivation hasn’t been a problem.
But even a 3-of-13 shooting performance to open the game couldn’t keep them down.
“You know, we still start three sophomores and two freshmen,” Cawley said. “When we called a timeout, we said, ‘Listen, it’s working. Keep doing it.’”
They did and promptly drilled 12-of-17 shots – sophomore Mean Pohs scored 13 points in the second quarter,  including three 3-pointers -- to go on a 30-3 run. Game over.
“Megan hit those 3-pointers, boom, boom, boom, which blew it open,” Cawley added.
Pohs, all-Centennial League a season ago, said, “I think we just came out in the second quarter and said it took us 5 hours to get here, so let’s just out and win. That’s the mindset we had.”
Probably larger, Cawley said, was the team’s defense. Mullen rejected 11 shots by the Indians, who ended 20-6, a half-dozen by 6-foot-2 freshman Imani Perez. Freshman Gracie Gallegos also limited Montrose leading scorer Kennadie Minerich to just one free throw. Haley Van Horn, Elaina Martinez, Alexa Dominguez and Iliana Perez also added stopping power that fueled transition.
“We played pretty well defensively,” Cawley said. “It’s a team concept, we play pressure defense. That’s what it is. We can dilly-dally all we want on offense, but we’re playing strong defense.”
With their only in-state losses to Cherry Creek and Grandview (twice each), and one to Regis Jesuit, Mullen continues to make a point as it enters the final two rounds of the season. And it’s excited as opposed to being surprised.
Indeed, Cawley said, maybe there’s a hint of raising an eyebrow, “but this is our goal,” he said, “as we wanted to get a game at the (Denver) Coliseum. Our practices are more intense than our games. They really play hard. They’re playing together and I’m really happy how they’ve come together to take the next step. We were talking about playing Pueblo West, then talking about Montrose and now we’re talking about playing Holy Family.”
Said Pohs: “I’m really excited. I’m not surprised. With our work ethic, we deserve to be here.”
 
MULLEN 62, MONTROSE 28
Mullen  7  30  12  13  –  62
Montrose  9  3  11  9  –  28
Mullen – Pohs 7 0-0 18, Martinez 4 0-0 9, Gallegos 3 3-5 11,Van Horn 2 0-0 5, Im. Perez 3 3-4 9, Dominguez 1 0-2 2, Il. Perez 2 0-0 4, Webster 0 0-0 0, Hart 1 0-0 2, Loukopoulos 0 0-0 0, Medina 0 0-0 0, Oswald 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-13 62.
Montrose – Minerich 0 1-2 1, Eccher 2 0-0 5, Ladage 1 0-0 2, Moss 4 0-1 8, Nichols 0 3-4 3, Burwell 0 2-2 2, Carroll 0 5-6 5, Greiner 1 0-0 2, Petranovich 0 0-0 0, Vang 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 11-15 28.
3-pt. goals – Pohs 4, Gallegos 2, Martinez, Van Horn; Eicher. Technical – Oswald.
 
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