Familiar flaws sink Mustangs
Mullen :got into too big of a hole."
Photos by John Leyba, Mullen Sports PhotographerChristian Davis, top, and Connor Riepma, below, gave it a go for Mullen, but familiar flaws arose again in a Centennial League loss at home to Eaglecrest. The Mustangs fell 79-64.
They have been down this road before and know where it leads.
Trouble. Frustration. And defeat.
Mullen’s Mustangs offered another dose of the same old, same old on Monday night, losing 79-64 to Eaglecrest in Centennial League play at Hutchison Fieldhouse.
In falling to 13-8 overall, 6-6 in league, the flaws in the Mustangs’ game reared their ugly heads again. It began with an uninspired first half that contained poor free-throw shooting, being too slow on defense, not finishing at the rim, failing to protect the paint and wasting way too much energy trying to play catch-up that led to another unpleasant defeat.“Yeah, we got into too big of a hole,” Mustangs head coach Bob Caton said. “And it’s the same thing, isn’t it? We can’t make free throws, can’t put in easy shots …”
Plus, Eaglecrest, which moved to 14-7 overall, is 9-3 in league and a game off the pace of the Centennial. And for reasons.
“They’re a good team,” Caton said of the Raptors.
They were again on Monday in sweeping the Mustangs. The Raptors trailed only once, at 2-0, and had success finding the open player, faring well from the perimeter and battling down low. Despite 11 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Eaglecrest didn’t give up its lead, made its first four 3-pointers – and 11 for the game to Mullen’s three – of the fourth quarter and made 18-of-23 free throws to the Mustangs’ dreadful 3-of-11.
“And they can shoot over people,” Caton said. “We can’t.”
Junior Isaac White again led Mullen in scoring with 17 points and Isaac Ondekane had 16. Connor Riepma added 11 and Matt Veen nine. Ondekane contributed 17 rebounds and Veen seven.
The Mustangs also suffered through a series of blocked shots as Caton added: “We can’t shoot over people, so we have to do what we do well. We need to get back to work and see if we can get a little better.”
Mullen will have its final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, when Smoky Hill, which still has a chance to get at least a share of the league title, visits. The Mustangs will wrap up the regular season on Friday, playing at Overland, the 2018 Centennial champion, in Aurora, before waiting for the release of the Class 5A playoff bracket on Sunday.
EAGLECREST 79, EAGLECREST 64
Eaglecrest 10 26 16 27 -- 79
Mullen 8 15 21 20 -- 64
Eaglecrest – Robinson 3 6-6 14, Bokol 7 7-9 23, Ruckard 3 3-5 11, Bile 2 2-2 6, Wilson 8 0-0 21, Wiley 2 0-1 4, Stilson 0 0-0 0, Lopez 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 18-23 79.
Mullen – Davis 1 0-0 3, Veen 4 1-4 9, Stitt 2 1-1 5, Parris 1 0-0 3, Ondekane 8 0-2 16, White 8 0-3 19, Riepma 5 1-1 11, Lopez 0 0-0 0, Beckish 0 0-0 0, Carter 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Berg 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 3-11 64.
3-pt. goals – Wilson 5, Bokol 2, Robinson 2, Ruckard 2; Davis, Stitt, White. Technicals – Stitt.
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