Boulder – Even with star senior Ray Hall held to half his scoring average, the Mullen boys basketball team accomplished half its two goals for the final week of the regular season.
The third-ranked Mustangs received a big boost from their bench in the fourth quarter Wednesday night and held off courageous Fairview 60-56 to clinch their second Centennial League title in three years.
All that remains for Mullen in the regular season is to avenge its only loss to a Colorado team when it travels to Smoky Hill on Friday.
“It’s real nice; this is a tough league,” said Hall, Mullen’s 7-foot center, of wrapping up the title by improving to 12-1 (19-2 overall) – two games up on Smoky Hill and Cherry Creek. Mullen, Smoky Hill, Creek and Grandview have been ranked in Class 5A’s top 10 this season.
It’s especially satisfying since Mullen went 7-7 in league play (14-12 overall) last season after winning the title in 2004 and narrowly missing out in 2003.
“We underachieved last year,” said Porter Cutrell, who has guided Mullen to Centennial crowns in five of his 10 years as coach. “We worked hard during the fall and winter, and started coming together and really playing as a group.”
Fairview (13-9, 5-8) gave Mullen all it could handle, despite the absence of leading scorer Nicholas Anastas, who sprained an ankle Monday during practice and did not suit up.
After trailing 17-6 with Mullen’s defense forcing numerous turnovers and Robby Hanzlik scoring nine of his 10 points during that first-quarter stretch, the Knights battled back against the Mustangs’ reserves and kept it close to the end.
Hall, who has committed to play at Providence, scored just 10 points. He had two at halftime and six after three quarters.
But Mullen’s bench, which often comes into a game as a unit, came through big – along with Hall – in the fourth quarter.
First, Sean Elges answered a 3-pointer by Fairview’s Mickey Citarella with a 3-pointer of his own, giving Mullen a 51-48 lead it would never relinquish.
In all, four reserves scored in the fourth quarter for Mullen, and Jon Ward came up with the biggest lift. He scored all of his seven points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer and four straight free throws in the final 2:09, the last two that rebuilt a five-point lead with 1:09 left.
Hall, who had given Mullen its first five-point lead of the quarter with a forceful jam, added two free throws with 17 seconds left and Fairview looking at just a three-point deficit.
Mullen 17 8 14 21 – 60
Fairview 8 14 16 18 – 56
Mullen – Aguilar 3 4-6 10, Ward 4 2-3 10, Shaw 3 0-0 6, Hanzlik 4 1-2 10, Hall 3 4-4 10, Allen 1 4-4 7, Theret 0 0-0 0, Stathopulos 1 0-0 2, Brugman 1 0-0 2, Elges 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 15-19 60.
Fairview – Citarella 2 2-2 8, Fenton 1 0-0 2, Stone 6 2-5 14, Quilling 1 4-6 6, Towler 7 0-1 14, Flynt 0 0-0 0, Melillo 2 3-6 7, Taydus 0 0-0 0, Moore 2 0-0 5, McGraw 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-20 56.
3-point goals – Hanzlik, Allen, Elges; Citarella 2, Moore. Total fouls – Mullen 19, Fairview 19. Fouled out – Towler. Technical fouls – None.
