The Mullen Mustangs have been in the fridge long enough. They’ve finally jelled.
The defending champs continued their repeat quest on Saturday, disposing of ThunderRidge 51-36 at the Denver Coliseum in the final game in the John Casey Region of the Class 5A boys basketball tournament.
“After the Centennial League grind, and losing nine of your 11 players, we’re just happy to still be playing,” Mullen coach Porter Cutrell said. “I was glad we even made the tournament, to be honest with you.”
In as the fifth seed in the region, the Mustangs (16-10) knocked off three of the top four seeds – Montbello (1), ThunderRidge (2) and Mitchell (4) – to reach the Final Four on Thursday at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
With both teams known for their slow pace of play, it was the Mustangs who were able to enforce their style on the Grizzlies first. Mullen’s defensive pressure on one end – which limited ThunderRidge to just 25 percent shooting (5-of-20) in the first half – translated equally to the offensive end.
Mullen’s guard tandem of Devin Aguilar and Kyle Theret, whom ThunderRidge coach Joe Ortiz calls “the best in the state,” found holes in the Grizzlies’ defense, and although modest, the Mustangs’ 27 halftime points were still 15 better than ThunderRidge.
“The way we rebounded the ball really helped us,” Cutrell said. “David Burns came off the bench and battled hard for us, and that was one of the things we noticed about (ThunderRidge), is that they really rebounded the ball well. We felt like if we could rebound the ball, we could get the ball out in the open court and run a little bit.”
Terrence Dent, who moved in from Laramie over the summer, led the Mustangs with 19 points and was just as effective outside as he was inside, hitting both of his 3-pointers.
“We haven’t been coming out quickly, and it was definitely something new for us,” Dent said. “We got out to that lead, and it was just a matter of them trying to fight back the entire time.”
Said Ortiz, who has won two titles at the Highlands Ranch school: “We’ve struggled scoring at times, and we definitely did today. They do a terrific job of controlling the tempo, and they hit some timely shots.”
Aguilar, who will try to play both football and basketball at Washington, was the only other player in double figures (10).
ThunderRidge was led by Scott Day’s nine points. Dave Arnold and Zach Tiedgen each had eight points.
Mullen 16 11 6 18 – 51
ThunderRidge 6 6 8 16 – 36
Mullen – Aguilar 3 3-4 10, Theret 4 0-0 8, Dent 6 5-5 19, Jones 3 0-2 6, Safieddine 0 1-2 1, Burns 2 3-4 7, Arias 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0, McKenna 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-17 51.
ThunderRidge – Day 4 0-0 9, Gaiter 1 0-0 2, Arnold 3 2-2 8, Tiedgen 2 4-4 8, Becker 2 0-0 4, Stender 0 0-0 0, Jelniker 1 0-0 3, Stern 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 6-6 36.
3-pt. goals – Dent 2, Aguilar; Day, Jelniker. Total fouls – Mullen 12; ThunderRidge 20. Fouled out – Day. Technicals – None.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
