Buffs beat down 'Stangs

 

AURORA -- “You look for positives,” Mullen head coach Bob Caton said.

After the Mustangs’ 85-67 road loss at Smoky Hill in the Centennial League that dropped them to 4-16 overall, 1-10 in the loop, Caton was realistic.

“That defense is tough, a good man-to-man and they’re real athletic,” the coach said of the Buffaloes (16-4, 8-3). “They knew what we were doing and they take you out of it. But we responded later pretty good to it.”

Mullen actually outscored Smoky Hill 45-34 after halftime, although Caton realizes his guys were trailing 51-22 through two quarters.

And even though Mullen enjoyed a stretch in the opening minutes of the third quarter in which it was 7-of-9 nine shooting from the floor, including six 3-pointers, and played much better defense, the Buffs still owned a 62-42 bulge.

“I think that team has the most talent in the state,” Caton said.

The Mustangs also wasted a high-end performance by junior pivot Brayden Carter, who went off for 28 points and 13 rebounds, and attempted to answer the Buffs’ array of dunks with a monster, rim-and-backboard-rattling one of his own late. Junior Sean Berg scored nine, Diallo Thompson eight and sophomore Callen Smith had six in his most-extensive playing time. Josh Lopez and Trey Dominguez each added a half-dozen.

Still, with three games to play in a trying season, the ever-positive Caton points to Saturday’s home league game against Cherokee Trail (3-17, 1-10), 5 p.m.

“If we win Saturday, like I said (in the locker room), that’s our state-tournament game,” he said. “If we win that game, we’ll be in the (Class 5A 48-team playoff bracket). If not, we’ll be handing in our uniforms (at the end of next week, the completion of the regular season). I told them, ‘This is your state tournament.’ We’ll get them ready.”

 

Mullen – Thompson 3 1-2 8, Lopez 2 0-0 6, Heffern 1 1-2 4, Smith 1 4-6 6, Carter 11 2-2 28, Berg 4 0-0 9, Dominguez 2 0-0 6, DePizzol 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 8-12 67.

Smoky Hill – Cortez 1 0-0 2, Rock 8 0-0 18, Weaver 7 2-2 18, Horn 4 2-3 10, Harris 5 0-0 10, Whitaker 6 0-0 13, Sanders 2 1-2 6, Walker 0 0-0 0, Darnell 4 0-1 8, Upshaw 0 0-0 0, Houcks-Spigner 0 0-0 0. Totals 37 5-8 83.

3-pt. goals – Carter 4, Dominguez 2, Lopez 2, Berg, Heffern, Thompson; Rock 2, Weaver 2, Sanders, Whitaker.