'Stangs drop season series to Bruins

 

Against some of the best competition in Colorado, making mistakes may be relevant, but remain a no-no.

It happened again for Mullen on Monday night. The Mustangs went down to Cherry Creek 81-66 in the Centennial League and their performance at Hutchison Fieldhouse was dotted with both good and bad, although the latter, much as it has been the case for 2019-20, was a bit more dominant, not unlike the talent difference.

“We went through it again,” coach Bob Caton said after his team dipped to 4-15 overall, 1-9 in the loop. “We had a couple of untimely turnovers (at key parts of the game). (The Bruins) made some turnovers, too, but that’s basketball and we made too many.”

There were multiple turning points in this one. In the first half, when talented Cherry Creek and the very good Julian Hammond simply went off on a scoring binge – he led all players with 34 points – and built a 43-21 halftime lead. Another junior, Myles Purchase, scored 15 of his 22 over the first two quarters.

It didn’t look good and Caton cleared his bench early.

But the Mustangs, behind junior Brayden Carter and sophomore Josh Lopez, showed some fight and climbed within 10 points (59-49) with 7:09 to play. However, consecutive turnovers led to a larger Cherry Creek lead. Mullen again got within 71-61 inside the 3-minute mark on a 3-pointer by Carter, but it never got closer.

The Bruins, 15-5 and tied with Grandview at the top of the Centennial at 9-1, had to sweat a bit, but gathered themselves appropriately, something the Mustangs have had to deal with all season..

“It’s almost like in slow motion,” Caton said. “We make a deflection and (the Bruins) get it and we don’t. They have some pretty good athletes and they’re in the upper echelon in the state. But we have to be able to get the 50-50 balls.”

Carter went for a team-high 24 points and Lopez added 13. Sophomores Ethan Heffern and Callen Smith each contributed eight.

The game was played on a rare Monday after being postponed by Friday’s snowstorm.

It set up a three-game week – the Mustangs will be at Smoky Hill in Aurora on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m., then host Cherokee Trail on Saturday, 5 p.m., at The Hutch.

 

Cherry  Creek – Cole 1 1-2 3, Hammond 15 1-1 34, Purchase 9 1-1 22, Hausman 4 0-0 10, Hawley 2 2-2 6, Walker 0 0-0 0, Hand 0 2-2 2, Helm 2 0-0 4, Spiegleman 0 0-0 0. Totals 33 7-81.

Mullen – Thompson 1 0-0 2, Lopez 3 4-4 13, Bond 1 1-2 3, Heffern 2 2-3 8, Carter 6 11-13 24, Essex 1 0-0 3, Berg 0 3-6 3, Smith 3 2-2 8, Dominguez 1 0-0 2, Haas 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 23-30 61.

3-pt. goals – Hammond 3, Purchase 3, Hausman 2; Lopez 3, Heffern 2, Carter, Essex. Technical foul – Walker.