Mustangs get through Raptors in league

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Mullen overcomes slow start, sickness in 51-32 road victory.
 
CENTENNIAL -- It was one of those nights and Mullen was fortunate that it didn’t really turn into one of those nights … as in an unexpected  loss.

The Mustangs had enough in the middle quarters to get past host Eaglecrest 51-32 in Centennial League play on Wednesday night.

Now 13-5 overall and 7-2 in league, Mullen, the defending Class 4A state champion, was rather lethargic before enjoying just the correct number of surges in dropping the 5A Raptors to 10-8, 3-6.

“In this league, you will have those nights when you just don’t play well,” Mustangs head coach Frank Cawley said. “(The Raptors have) improved a lot with their shooting and ball pressure. But we didn’t rebound the ball with any tenacity and just went through the motions and expected to win.

“We can’t do that anymore in the regular season or playoffs and that won’t happen again.”

It certainly began slowly as Mullen led only 9-6 through the first eight minutes on 4-of-15 shooting.

However, the Mustangs picked it up, outscoring Eaglecrest 31-16 in the second and third quarters. Junior Haley Van Horn canned her first five shots in leading the way for a team that’s battling assorted illnesses.

“Yeah, a lot of us are sick on the team, about half of us,” she said. “At first, the sickness got us, but by the end we had good rotation for people who weren’t feeling so great and we went on a run.”

The two runs were wrapped around halftime, a 9-3 binge in the final minute and a half of the second, and it was picked up at the outset of the third.

Van Horn led all Mullen scorers with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

“Haley played great,” Cawley said. “And she played well late with four fouls, we left her in … that’s good to know.”

Sophomore Imani Perez scored eight points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots. Van Horn added seven rebounds. The Mustangs’ balance was there again, aided by junior Jessica Oates-Stamm, who came off the bench for nine points.

“Jess gave us a spark and played well,” Cawley said.

On Friday, the Mustangs will have a second go against Cherry Creek, the defending 5A winner. On Jan. 15, the Mustangs seemed overwhelmed in a 58-38 setback.

“We need to understand that, especially in this league, we can’t take a night off,” Cawley said.

Said Van Horn: “We’re always ready for Creek.”

Tip-off will be 5:30 p.m. at Hutchison Fieldhouse.
 
MULLEN 51, EAGLECREST 32

Mullen  9  14  17  11  11  51

Eaglecrest  6  7  9  10  --  32

Mullen –
Pohs 1 0-0 3, Martinez 1 0-0 3, Van Horn 6 0-0 12, Perez 4 0-0 8, Gallegos 2 0-0 5, Oates-Stamm 3 2-4 9, Dominguez 2 3-4 7, Webster 1 0-0 3, Elges 0 0-0 0, Freelon 0 1-4 1. Totals 20 6-12 51.

Eaglecrest – Dixon 0 0-0 0, McGuinnis 7 1-2 17, Coleman 0 2-2 2, Ross 1 4-5 7, Coleman 0 0-0 0, Roffle 1 3-5 6, Unrein 0 0-0 0, Esser 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 10-14 32.

3-pt. goals – Gallegos, Martinez, Oates-Stamm, Pohs, Webster; McGinnis 2, Ross.
Back