Carter, Leslie lift 'Stangs over Grandview
Mullen holds off Wolves, who had won the past 11 meetings in a row and 18 of the past 19; 'Stangs win 52-50 in home opener.
For a moment, forget about the pandemic, the delayed start to the season and the 4-19 record in 2019-20.
There was time for enjoyment by Mullen boys basketball on Wednesday night.
The Mustangs slipped past Grandview 52-50 at Hutchison Fieldhouse to open the season with a rousing Centennial League victory. How much so? Mullen had lost the previous 11 meetings to the Wolves and 18 of the past 19.
“It was a good win for us,” Mustangs head coach Bob Caton said, “a good one for the kids.”
The Hutch had no fans, players had to sport masks while competing and Caton, like other in-state coaches, is carrying only nine players on varsity because of possible spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), but none of it got in Mullen’s way.
“We almost gave it away,” the coach said, “but we didn’t and that was good.”
Mullen led by five points with less than 2 minutes to go and protected. Junior Micah Leslie, enjoying his first game as a Mustang after transferring from Valor Christian two years ago – the move was ruled improper by state officials and he had to sit out the past season -- scored 11 of his 15 points over the final quarter.
“We didn’t shoot it well,” Caton said “and we may have had some opening-night jitters, but we hadn’t beaten Grandview in a long time.”
Senior Brayden Carter, who has pledged to Regis, toppd the Mustangs with 18 points.
The Mustangs will hit the road on Friday to take on Cherry Creek in Greenwood Village, the preseason No. 1 team in Class 5A. Tip-off will be at 7:15 p.m.
MULLEN 52, GRANDVIEW 50
Grandview 16 11 10 13 – 50
Mullen – 11 12 13 16 – 52
Grandview – Hayes 3 0-2 6, Broadus 4 1-2 12, Handy 2 0-0 4, Rullo 1 0-0 2, Gutierrez 6 0-0 18, Watters 2 1-4 5, Onyenwere 0 0-0 0, Thompkins 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 3-10 50.
Mullen – J. Leslie 0 0-0 0, Lopez 2 2-3 7, Berg 1 2-2 5, Dominguez 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0-0 2, Heffern 2 1-4 5, M. Leslie 5 5-6 15, Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Carter 6 6-10 18. Totals 17 16-26 52.
3-pt. goals – Gutierrez 6, Silas 3; Berg, Lopez.
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