Mullen ready for 4A's final 4

 

These are not the younger, wide-eyed Mullen Mustangs of a year ago that probably shocked the rest of Colorado in winning the Class 4A championship in 2018-19 by starting three sophomores and two freshmen.

They still may be young in 2019-20, as they have no seniors on the roster, but their experience has been noted.

The past Friday, when the Mustangs rolled Canon City by 70-33 in the Great 8, may have underlined their maturity. In front of the season’s largest crowd at Hutchison Fieldhouse, head coach Frank Cawley said the athletic department suggested cutting down the nets and had a ladder on hand.

However, when Cawley mentioned it to his team, he was greeted with a series of resounding no’s, forget-its and no-chances.

“I also have a fear of ladders,” junior point guard Megan Pohs said, “but we haven’t won anything yet. We still have to prove ourselves.”

Junior forward Haley Van Horn concurred: “So when I heard about it and the rest of the team hard about it, we didn’t want to because we haven’t won anything yet. Usually (cutting down the nets) means you’ve won something. We still have two more games go.”

Cawley considered it as sweet music to his ears.

“They understand we have some work to do,” he said.

Now 19-7, the No. 9-seeded Mustangs will meet No. 4 Berthoud in 4A’s final four on Thursday, 4 p.m., at the Denver Coliseum. The winner will meet the survivor of the 5:30 p.m. Matchup between Holy Family and Green Mountain.

The Spartans, Cawley said, “have some size, are physical and can shoot from outside.” They tied with Holy Family and Erie atop the Tri-Valley League. Now 24-4, Berthoud has won six games in a row and is fresh from a 64-60 overtime victory over Erie.

Six-foot senior Emily Cavey heads the Spartans at 17.7 points per outing and grabs 7.0 rebounds. Another 6-0 senior, Celsey Selland, tops the team in rebounding at 8.5. Junior Breanna Fowler contributes 13.7 points.

The Spartans also average 65 points to the Mustangs’ 59.

For Mullen, its playoff streak has reached eight games and has won six of its past seven games, the one loss coming to Grandview, which is in the 5A final four. It has won games in its postseason streak by 56, 4, 34, 22, 19, 44, 25 and 37 points.

The Mustangs’ defense has been steady, surrendering only 60-or-more points three times, a season-high 62 in a loss to 5A Regis Jesuit.

Offensively, balance has been the thing with Pohs (10.2 points), Gracie Gallegos (9.8, including 27 in her last outing), Imani Perez (9.3) and Elaina Martinez (6.9) heading the wave. The 6-2 Perez also has patrolled the paint on defense with 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, and Van Horn has recently added a physical aspect down low.

Mullen is shutting down classes early before spring break, after Wednesday, because of the COVID-19, but Van Horn doesn’t foresee it as a distraction.

“We’re focused,” she said.

Said Cawley: “We know what we have to do.”

Here’s a link to the bracket:

.