'Stangs beat Buffs at the buzzer
Davis drive against Foster caps 76-74 thriller.
Photos by John Leyba, Mullen Sports Photographer
Mullen's Christian Davis surprised Smoky Hill, top, by driving to the basket and scoring on a layup, below left, as the buzzer sounded in a 76-74 thriller, setting off, below, a wild celebration at Hutchison Fieldhouse.
For all we know, Mullen’s Mustangs may still be taking pen and paper in hand and autographing a long-awaited signature victory for their season after Wednesday night’s 76-74 thriller over Smoky Hill.
The largest crowd in 2018-19 packed a very loud Hutchison Fieldhouse for a wild Centennial League victory, but afterward it was difficult to choose which earned top billing.
Was it the sweet victory, the one the Mustangs and their followers had been waiting for, that may have secured a home playoff game next week in the Class 5A bracket or was it the way it ended?Early returns indicate in may be the way it ended. After calling a timeout with 7.6 seconds to play, the Mustangs went to sharpshooter Christian Davis on Senior Night and playing in his last home game of the regular season. Davis was a good bet to pop one from the perimeter, but when Smoky Hill 6-foot-5 star Kenny Foster went to check Davis at the top of the key, the Mustangs guard surprised Foster as well as everyone else on hand by going to the basket and laying one in at the buzzer that also dropped through the nets as Foster was going to be called for goal-tending.
A very excited scene followed as Mullen moved to 14-8 overall, 7-6 in league. It has its most overall victories since the 2007-08 season and league wins since 2009-10. The victory also gave the league title to Grandview. Smoky Hill is 17-5, 9-4 and in a three-way tie for second with Eaglecrest and Overland.
And the Davis legend continues.
“The play that was drawn up by the coaches was a great play, but it just broke down a little,” he said. “I was going to shoot it, step back to the left and shoot a (3-pointer0, but I saw (Foster) come up a little bit and I saw a lane.”
He caught Foster flat-footed, went past him and had the ball going down off the backboard and into the cylinder as Foster illegally touched it.
“I just stood there and watched,” a happy Mustangs guard Brady Parris said.
And how about the irony – Davis is regarded as one of Colorado’s top shooters, but he has done virtually all of it from the perimeter. He’s rarely in the paint. And he has been a targeted player since dropping 55 points on Chatfield before Christmas, a performance that included just one layup, two free throws and 51 points beyond the key, well beyond in most cases.
“We were looking for that one,” Mustangs head coach Bob Caton said.
They were and it was a struggle after everything went right early for thr Mustangs. Mullen actually led the Buffaloes 31-11 in the second quarter. It had ball movement, shooting, rebounding and defense. However, the Buffs gradually started to claw back, mainly behind Foster, who had a game-high 35 points, his fifth game of 30-or-more this season. Jalen Weaver added 17 points and Quinten Rock had 16, 14 after halftime.
Plus, the Buffs, who never led, made 18-of-20 free throws to the Mustangs’ 19-of-32. And the momentum really shifted early in the third quarter, when Mustangs junior center Isaac Ondekane was whistled for his fourth foul and he followed it with a technical for his fifth foul and disqualification.
However, Parris may have had his best game, canning five 3-pointers. Junior Isaac White led the team with 17 points, including 7-of-8 free throws and eight rebounds despite bouts with cramps. Davis had 16 points, Vaughnn Stitt made six free throws late. Senior Connor Riepma had 11 points and battled inside with Matt Veen. Even sporadically used senior Jake Beckish got into the act, drilling a 3-pointer in the first quarter.
“Teams are always going to have runs and it’s hard to keep that momentum going,” Caton said. “But we responded. And what a great move by Christian! Isaac (White) and Brady were great … this is the one we were looking for.”
The Mustangs will wrap up their regular season on Friday, 7 p.m., at Overland, the 2018 league champion, in Aurora, then await the release of the Class 5A bracket on Sunday.
But the final days of the regular season just turned a little more exciting.
“It feels really good to get one like this,” Davis said. “I will remember this for the rest of my life.”
MULLEN 76, SMOKY HILL 74
Smoky Hill 11 13 16 24 -- 74
Mullen 20 17 18 21 -- 76
Smoky Hill – Rock 5 2-2 16, Weaver 4 8-9 17, Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Foster 13 7-7 35, Tuom 0 0-0 0, Darnell 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Horn 1 0-0 2, Latham 1 1-2 4, Sanders 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 18-20 74.
Mullen – Davis 5 3-3 16, Veen 1 1-2 3, Stitt 0 6-9, 6, Parris 5 0-0 15, Riepma 5 1-5 11, White 4 7-7 17, Beckish 1 0-0 3, Ondekane 2 1-5 5. Totals 23 19-32 76.
3-pt. goals – Rock 4, Foster 2, Latham, Weaver; Parris 5, Davis 3, White 2, Beckish. Fouled out – Ondekane.Technical – Ondekane.
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