Not long ago, Mullen girls basketball coach Frank Cawley held a seminar with his team. The topic? Return of investment. The chat wasn’t about financial portfolios, but rather, using a killer early-season schedule as a springboard to success late in the season.
And Friday night, for the ninth time in their last 10 games, the Mustangs, for lack of a better term, put a victory in the bank — in this case a stunningly easy 61-37 Centennial League win over Cherokee Trail.
“We’ve had some injuries and some issues, but when we’ve been able to put our top seven players on the floor from buzzer to buzzer, we’ve been pretty successful,” Cawley said. “We’re starting to gel at the right time.”
At one point, Mullen’s season seemed in danger of dissolving into a puddle of goo. One stretch in December featured games against the defending state champions of Colorado, California and Nevada, as well as a “breather” against the Arizona state runner-up.
“It was torturous,” Cawley said.
Lately however, it’s the Mustangs (11-7, 9-1 in league play) who’ve been bringing the pain, in some ways quite literally. The team was the clear aggressor Friday night, and, while the total number of fouls whistled in the game was basically even, the referees had little problem with Mullen’s physicalness, as the vast majority of no-calls went its way.
That led to audible exasperation from the Cherokee Trail fans, as well as an ongoing stream of consciousness directed toward the officials from coach Jim Bartok. The running diatribe had little effect on the game — which indeed might have been closer had the Cougars (13-6, 7-2) tended to their own business a bit more. The visitors missed 10 free throws in the game and at least as many layup attempts; after scoring just seven points in the second quarter, it took CT over three minutes to get its first points of the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs were solid from the perimeter, with half of their six first-quarter field goals coming on 3-pointers. The most notable gunner was senior Hayley Thompson. The Colorado State signee was recently named (along with teammate Kirsten Hess) a nominee for the McDonald’s All-America team; on Friday she led all scorers with 14 points.
Cherokee Trail 13 7 7 10 — 37
Mullen 17 15 16 13 — 61
Cherokee Trail — Shead 5 0-3 10, Muniz 3 0-0 6, Adams 1 2-4 4, Barfield 0 4-9 4, Nevin 0 0-0 3, Horton 1 0-0 2, Libonati 3 0-0 6, Drayton 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 6-16 37.
Mullen — O’Rourke 0 2-2 2, Thompson 3 2-2 14, Burt 0 5-6 5, Hess 4 0-2 8, Camy 1 2-6 4, Majewski 1 0-0 2, Holland 3 2-2 11, Richardson 2 4-4 8, Scott-Benson 3 1-2 7. Totals 17 18-26 61.
3-point goals — Cherokee Trail, Nevin; Mullen, Thompson 2, Holland.
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
