AURORA — After watching sophomore guard Phil Hill steal the ball from Mullen the entire game, Smoky Hill senior Leon Whittington let him steal his interview.
When the subject of defense came up, Whittington, who scored 11 of his 18 points from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, ran into the Buffaloes’ locker room to get Hill.
“This is the guy you need to talk to,” Whittington said.
He had a point. Mullen’s 24 turnovers were a big part of Smoky Hill’s 63-49 Class 5A Centennial League victory Wednesday night.
Hill’s thoughts?
“We made sure that (Mullen’s Terrence Dent) didn’t get the ball, and we tried to keep all their players below their average in points,” said Hill, who had no points on four shots.
Simple enough.
The Buffaloes (11-9, 5-6 in league) won their third straight, avenging a three- point loss last month to the Mustangs with a swarming defense, a patient offense and free throws down the stretch.
Ryan Perry sparked the slow-starting Buffs with nine of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter, and Xavier Howard added 12 points as Smoky Hill fended off a late rally to win.
“We finally ran our offense and got other people open,” Perry said. “Instead of forcing shots, we moved it around and got good shots.”
In addition to committing 12 more turnovers than the Buffs, the Mustangs (14-6, 6-5) shot 16-of-31 from the free-throw line. The turnovers made the Mustangs impatient offensively, which inevitably led to more steals for the ballhawking Buffs.
Dent led Mullen with 13 points and five rebounds, and guard Aaron Murray added 10 points.
“We just didn’t play the way we like to play, our style,” Mustangs coach Porter Cutrell said. “We played their style.”
The Mustangs, however, certainly had their chances deep into a fourth quarter in which they would outrebound the smaller Buffs 20-5.
The Mustangs used an 8-1 run to pull within three points with 2:43 remaining. But the Mustangs turned the ball over on their next three possessions, and Whittington was almost automatic from the free-throw line.
Mullen 16 10 8 15 — 49
Smoky Hill 19 10 11 23 — 63
Mullen — Dent 3 6-9 13, Burns 1 0-2 2, Murray 3 4-5 10, McCullough 0 0-0 0, Willingham 3 3-4 9, Friend 2 3-9 7, Jones 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0-0 2, Hewitt 2 0-0 4, Conte 1 0-0 2, Barry 0 0-0 0, Stackhouse 0 0-2 0, Belloni 0 0-0 0, Graziano 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 16-31 49.
Smoky Hill — Hill 0 0-0 0, Perry 8 0-0 19, Carter 3 0-3 6, Hamilton 1 0-2 2, Whittington 3 12-16 18, Howard 5 2-2 12, Setterlind 0 0-0 0, Nagel 1 0-0 2, Bransford 1 0-0 2, Turk 0 2-2 2. Totals 22 16-25 63.
3-pt. goals — Dent; Perry 3. Total fouls — Mullen 19, Smoky Hill 17. Fouled out — None. Technicals — Smoky Hill bench.
