Hoops finish strong

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Mullen girls handle Eaglecrest and boys slip past Arapahoe in league tourney; regular-season ends; now, the wait for spots in playoff brackets continues into Sunday.

In Greenwood Village, Mullen got a wave of contributions on Saturday in handling Eaglecrest 59-46 in the final round of the Centennial League Tournament held at Cherry Creek.

The Mustangs are 11-12, finished in fifth and feel secure they have landed a spot in the 6A 32-team bracket – they were No. 30 as of late Saturday. The postseason field will be confirmed on Sunday.

Mullen is a four-time-defending champion in 4A.

The 18-15 first-quarter lead for Mullen grew to 32-21 by halftime.

Allison Schwertner (11 points), Tatum Jones (10), McKenzie Wood (10) and Keaton Arangua-Egbert (nine) led Mullen’s balanced scoring. Arangua-Egbert added eight assists.

MULLEN 59, EAGLECREST 46

Mullen   18  14  11  16  --  59

Eaglecrest   15  6  12  13  --  46

Mullen --  Johnson 1 0-0 3, Garcia 0 0-0 0, Arangua-Egbert 3 2-5 9, Zienkewicz 6 0-0 12, Thomas 1 1-2 4, Pelster 0 0-1 0, Schwertner 5 1-5 11, M. Wood 4 0-0 10, Jones 5 0-0 10. Totals 25 4-12 59.

3-pt. goals – M. Wood 2, Arangua-Egbert, Johnson, Thomas.

Boys Basketball

An Ish Aceves free throw and a last-second steal by Mullen sealed its 49-48 victory over host Arapahoe on Saturday to cap the Centennial League Tournament.

The Mustangs ended the regular season at 10-13 and await the final RPI qualifying formula to see if they advance to the 6A 32-team playoff bracket due on Sunday.

“A great win, but we have to wait and see,” head coach Roosevelt Leslie said.

Mullen finished in fifth place in the three-game tournament.

Jordan Leslie, a junior guard, again led the Mustangs with 22 points. Sophomore Thomas Stewart added eight.

MULLEN 49, ARAPAHOE 48

Mullen   12  13  14  10  --  49

Arapahoe  10  17  10  11 --  48

Mullen – Leslie 6 9-9 22, Jerez 2 1-3 5, Stewart 4 0-0 8, Jones 1 0-0 3, Aceves 2 1-4 5, Medina 0 0-0 0, Castillo 0 3-5 3, Roth 1 0-0 3. Totals 16 14-21 49.

3-pt. goals – Jones, Leslie, Roth.
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