Mustangs wilt late
Stretch-run trouble against Grandview.
Photos by John Leyba, Mullen Sports Photographer Mullen's issac Ondekane threw down a nice dunk, top, and Matt Veen battled inside, below, but the Mustangs fell to 2-3 in the Centennial League. Mullen is 9-4 overall and will face Smoky Hill on Friday night.
AURORA – A tale of two halves is probably a corny, antiquated reference to Mullen’s effort on Wednesday night in the Centennial League, but it’s also apt.
The Mustangs looked sharp and game throughout the first half only to unexpectedly fell apart over the final two quarters in dropping a stinging 64-50 decision at Grandview, the defending Class 5A state champion.
In stumbling to 9-4 overall, 2-3 in league, Mullen had an opportunity to shake up the league a bit, but the Wolves improved to 10-4, 5-0, and remained in command.
Afterward in a locker room, assistant coach Ray Valdez addressed the team and alluded to the various “pockets” experienced by the Mustangs, who play soundly and beautifully for stretches only to match them with other stretches in which they play poorly on defense and suddenly struggle to accumulate points.“It hurt us,” Mustangs head coach Bob Caton said. “I have to look at the film, but Ray was talking about that pocket and we get a stretch where we don’t execute, and when that happens …”
Over the first 24 minutes, Mullen shot 12-of-22 from the floor and made a concerted effort on defense in rolling to a 29-23 lead. The Wolves seemed to be surprised and were on their heels.
However, the Mustangs meltdown began almost immediately.
Turnovers, missed shots and failure to defend, Caton said, were too much to overcome.
“We have a couple of traveling calls inside and guess what – you have to go and play defense,” he said. “We take an ill-advised shot and guess what – you have to go and play defense again.
“You’ve got to go down and score, then come back and make a stop. It’s just like pickup basketball. It’s that simple. And we didn’t do it.”
For the half, Mullen was outscored 41-21.
Junior Isaac Ondekane led Mullen with 21 points and senior guard Christian Davis added 15. And the Mustangs didn’t get to the free-throw line, attempting only five.
Next up is a Friday game at Smoky Hill, 7 p.m. The Buffaloes currently sit in second place in league and are coming off a one-point victory over Overland, the defending league champion.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Caton said.
GRANDVIEW 64, MULLEN 50
Mullen 17 12 11 10 -- 50
Grandview 11 12 21 20 – 64
Mullen – Davis 6 0-0 15, Veen 1 1-2 3, Stitt 2 0-0 6, Parris 1 0-0 3, Ondekane 10 1-3 21, Riepma 0 0-0 0, White 1 0-0 2, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Beckish 0 0-0 0, Lopez 0 0-0 0, Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 2-5 50.
Grandview – McGill 11 2-2 25, Ramiro 1 1-2 3, Unger 1 0-0 2, Walker 3 0-0 7, Prim 7 0-0 15, Dombro 1 0-0 3, Thomas 3 0-2 7, Williams 0 0-0 0, Leu-Pierre 0 1-3 1, Norman 0 1-2 1. Totals 27 5-11 64.
3-pt. goals – Davis 3, Stitt 2, Brady; Dombro, McGill, Prim, Thomas, Walker. Fouled out – Prim. Technicals –White; Prim.
© 2020 Mullen High School. All Rights Reserved.