Denver East too much for Mustangs

Tough times continue.

Mullen’s 94-50 road loss at Denver East on Saturday afternoon in nonleague was particularly painful and indicative of the problems the Mustangs are attempting to handle.

Another early lead with stretches of playing very well that suddenly disappeared … quickly and without warning.

Mustangs head coach Bob Caton had a longer than usual talk with his team afterward as the staff and players search for answers.

“We get going, then … we were playing well, but it stopped,” he said. “You knew this could happen (against the Angels), you play them close, then the flood gates open up.”

That they did – it was a quick turnaround that dropped the Mustangs to 3-9 on the season, their sixth consecutive loss.

And quick? Tied at 17 after a quarter, Mullen hung around just minutes before halftime, although quite talented and young Denver East (12-0), clearly in the mix to chase another Colorado title, enjoyed a surge to push its lead to 37-24 at halftime. The Mustangs’ inability to defend the Angels both inside and on the perimeter started to mushroom and their own woes of bad passing, failure to catch passes and trouble rebounding and scoring increased.

The lowlight for Mullen occurred in the third quarter, when Denver East binged for 35 points on the way to a 57-point half. All told, the Angels also made a whopping 38 baskets. As well, the sophomore-dominated Mustangs also couldn’t handle the Angels press, suffered multiple unforced errors and appeared exhausted.

“They jump on you,” Caton said of the Angels. “They smell it and it’s over. You have to be able to reverse the ball and if someone is not open, we have to get it to someone else, and we’re not doing it.”

Ethan Heffern led Mullen with 10 points. Sean Berg, Brayden Carter and Manny Essex each scored nine.

Caton underlined the value of playing Colorado’s top-flight teams such as Denver East and competing in the Centennial League, which will continue on Wednesday, when the Mustangs will be at Cherokee Trail in Aurora, 7 p.m.

“We have to regroup and get ready,” he said. “Nothing is easy in this league.”

 

Mullen – Lopez 3 0-0 8, Berg 4 0-0 9, Bond 2 1-2 5, Heffern 3 4-4 10, Carter 4 1-1 9, Essex 3 0-0 9, Dominguez 0 0-0 0, Haas 0 0-0 0, Marsh 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 6-7 50.

Denver East – Reynolds 8 2-2 22, Davis 5 1-2 11, Stanton 9 1-3 21, Steed 5 0-0 11, Kerr 1 0-0 2, Connelly 6 0-0 17, Darre 1 0-0 3, Squibb 2 1-1 5, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Markey 0 0-0 0, Moses 1 0-0 2. Totals 38 5-8 94.

3-pt. goals – Essex 3, Lopez 2, Berg; Connelly 5, Reynolds 4, Stanton 2, Darre, Steed.