On to the 4 final four!

 

Heading into Class 4A’s Great 8 on Friday night, Mullen was feeling exceptionally fortunate.

The ninth-seeded Mustangs were coming off a second consecutive playoff road victory in Montrose and benefitted when No. 16 Canon City knocked off No. 1 Sand Creek. It meant a home game at Hutchison Fieldhouse in front of a potentially packed gymnasium instead of a trip to Colorado Springs.

So they showed their gratitude – as well as growth – with a resounding 70-33 victory over Canon City as the stands were filled, their bid for a second consecutive Colorado title got closer to fulfillment and the overall emergence of talented sophomore Gracie Gallegos turned even more real.

Mullen improved to 19-7 and will head to 4A’s final four on Thursday at the historic Denver Coliseum to take on Berthoud, which outlasted Erie in overtime. Canon City ended 20-5.

Never mind the Mustangs began slowly and actually trailed 9-7 ... they erupted. Again.

“You live and die by the (3-pointer) and if those first shots don’t fall, you hve to battle through … but once we figured out that we didn’t have to take a 3 every time, we were OK,” Mustangs head coach Frank Cawley said. “There’s no mystery, no secret sauce here, when we defend, we’re pretty good.”

So is Gallegos, who began the game by cashing a 3-pointer just seconds after opening tip-off, scoring 18 of her game-high 27 points in the first half and turning in her usual defensive effort. A year ago as a 6-foot freshman, she was regularly assigned to the opposition’s best player. It continues and she’s adding rebounding to her repertoire as well as heading the break in transition.

“Big time, big time,” Cawley said when asked about Gallegos’ evolvement. “What’s not in the box score is her defense … she shuts them down.”

Gallegos shrugged when asked about her offensive game, saying “I just got a little more confidence once my shot was falling.”

Leading 31-15 at halftime, Mullen overcame unusually cold shooting and started to beat the Tigers down the floor for baskets while holding them to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters. In particular, Gallegos, pivot Imani Perez, Alexa Dominguez, Elaina Martinez and Megan Pohs cut off passing lanes, made steals off the dribble and battled inside.

“I’ll tell you what, that team is pretty good, hung in there and played hard and battled,” Cawley said of the Tigers. “It will help us next week. We take pride in our defense.

“And to have to battle through early was really useful for this team.”

All 12 Mustangs scored. Despite Mullen going 5-of-17 from the floor in the first quarter, it was 7-of-8 over the next 8 minutes. Pohs added 11, eight in the second quarter in a surge led the Mustangs’ first serious separation. Perez had 10 along with eight rebounds and another handful of blocks as the Mustangs again were swatting shots in and near the paint.

”We just decided to work harder,” Perez said.

And having the largest and loudest home crowd of the season didn’t hurt … nor did it go unnoticed.

“Last year,” Perez said, “people didn’t expect us to get this far. Now, people are, like, ‘You guys got this.’ There’s so much support, it’s like there’s a pull to it. It’s amazing. (Their followers) just feed into the energy and the game, and there’s more hype. Your crowd gets into it. It’s a great feeling and really fun.”

A return to 4A’s final four, Gallegos said, “was definitely going to be harder this year. We just can’t sneak up behind people. And we can’t overlook any teams.”

Cawley sees the contrasting entries into final rounds and understands the learning process for his group.

“It’s good,” he said. “Last year at this time, I was extremely nervous. We hadn’t been there. Now, we’ve been there, have some experience and it should help us.

“We’re excited. We’re a good road team.”

Here’s a link to the 4A bracket, times TBA:

Canon City – Moore 3 0-0 7, Ley 4 1-1 10, Till 0 0-0 0, Martinez 0 0-0 0, Tedquist 2 6-9 10, R. Smith 2 0-0 4, Weikal 0 0-0 0, Andreis 0 1-2 1, Nelson 0 1-2 1, Kies 0 1-2 1, E. Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 9-15 33.

Mullen – Pohs 4 1-1 11, Martinez 1 0-0 3, Van Horn 2 0-2 4, Perez 3 4-4 10, Gallegos 9 4-6 27, Dominguez 1 0-0 2, Elges 1 0-0 2, Freelon 1 0-0 2, Oates-Stamm 1 1-2 4, Webster 1 0-0 2, Gutierrez 0 1-3 1, Aragon 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 11-18 70.

3-pt. goals – Ley, Moore; Gallegos 5, Pohs 2, Oates-Stamm, Martinez.