The Olton Mustangs’ varsity basketball team edged out the Bushland Falcons on Wednesday, 40-38, in their tournament-opener at the 32nd annual Wildcat Classic in Littlefield.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 1-0 in tournament play.
Jimmy Munoez dropped in a layup to open the contest for Olton, but on the next play, Haydon Branscum picked up a steal and was fouled on the fast-break attempt by Alan Vasquez. He converted both free throws to tie the game, 2-2. Noah Krause followed it up with a three from the top of the key to put the Falcons in front, 5-2, but Sebastian Sparkman answered with a floater from the right elbow to make it a one-point game, 54.
Brody Baker dropped in a floater from the right side for Bushland, but Jon Cooper responded with a lay-up and Nate Urbina followed it up with a lay-up off of the assist from Munoz to put Olton in front, 8-7, with 3:36 remaining in the opening quarter. Munoz kept the Olton run going with a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Sparkman, but Kade Schneider dropped in a put-back to end the scoring drought, making the score, 11-9, with 2:23 to play in the quarter. Schneider was fouled on an attempt by Wyatt Nelson and split the free throws to make the score, 11-10.
Urbina knocked down a jumper from the right elbow for Olton and with one second remaining in the quarter, Urbina was fouled on an attempt by Quaid Ferris, earning a trip to the line. He converted both free throws to extend Olton’s lead to, 15-10, as the first quarter came to a close.
Sparkman knocked down a fadeaway jumper on the baseline to open the second frame and on their next possession, Vasquez grabbed an offensive rebound and dropped in a lay-up, pushing their lead to, 19-10, with 5:22 to play in the first half. Krause knocked down a three from the left wing to get the Falcons on the board in the second quarter, but Munoz fired right back on the other end with a three from the right elbow, drawing an and-one foul on the play. Munoz couldn’t convert the free throw, leaving the score, 22-13, with 2:17 left to play in the half.
Jenner King knocked down a pullup jumper from the right elbow for Bushland and Olton took a time out with 38 seconds left to play in the half. Out of the break, Sparkman was fouled on an attempt by TJ Hill. He split the free throws, pushing their lead to, 2315. With under 20 seconds to go in the half, Hill was fouled on an attempt by Munoz. He too split the free throws, trimming the lead to, 25-16. But, with time winding down in the quarter, Cooper dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Vasquez to put the Mustangs in front, 25-16, going into the locker room at halftime.
Urbina opened the second half with a floater from the right side off of the assist from Sparkman, but Taggert Thrash answered with back-to-back threes from the top of the key to slice the lead to, 27-22, with 6:20 to play in the third quarter. On the other end, Urbina was fouled on an attempt, earning a trip to the free-throw line. He sank both attempts at the line and Munoz followed it up by taking a charge on Thrash to regain possession for the Mustangs with 5:08 to play in the quarter.
Vasquez drained a three from the left wing off of the assist from Sparkman, but Krause answered with a three from the right wing for Bushland to make the score, 32-25, with 4:26 remaining in the third. The Falcons took a quick time out, and out of the break, Hill was fouled on a three-point attempt by Brady Azam. He missed the first two shots, but made the third, trimming the lead to, 32-26.
Hill was again fouled on an attempt, this time by Nelson; he split the free throws to cut the lead to, 32-27, and on the next play, Thrash was fouled on the floor by Sparkman, earning a trip to the line. He converted both shots, trimming the lead to, 32-29, with 1:15 to play in the quarter. With 35 seconds to play in the third, Schneider was assessed a technical foul sending Urbina to the line to shoot free throws, however, Urbina missed both shots. With just 21 seconds to play in the quarter, Urbina knocked down a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Sparkman, pushing their lead out to, 35-29, to close out the third quarter.
Baker knocked down a three to open the fourth quarter for Bushland and on the next play, he was fouled on an attempt by Cooper, earning a trip to the line. He made one-of-two shots from the line to make it a onepossesion Olton lead, as the Mustangs took a time out with 4:19 to play, leading, 35-33.
Out of the break, Bushland took a charge on Sparkman and they followed it up, as Schneider hit a cutting Hill on the back side for a lay-up to tie the game, 35-35, with 2:54 to play. Vasquez answered with a lay-up off of the assist from Urbina to regain the lead for Olton, but it was short-lived, as Schneider scored on a back-door cut off of the assist from Thrash, tying the game, 37-37, with just over two minutes to play.
Olton took a time out with 2:04 remaining, and out of the break, Sparkman knocked down a step-back three from the top of the key to make the score, 40-37. With 23 seconds to play, Hill was fouled on a defensive rebound by Cooper, putting him on the line for free throws. He split the attempts, but the ball went out of bounds off of Olton, giving the Falcons possession, as they took a time out with 21 seconds to play, trailing, 40-38.
Out of the break, Munoz blocked a shot by Baker and the ball went out of bounds off of Bushland. The Falcons would get one more chance after a pair of missed free throws by Vasquez, but the floater by Thrash was no good, as Olton survived, 40-38, to advance to the winners bracket of the Wildcat Classic.
The Mustangs were led in scoring by Urbina, who netted 13 points. Sparkman and Munoz each tallied eight points, while Vasquez chipped in seven points and Cooper finished with four points.
The Mustangs played Farwell at 11 a.m. on Thursday with a trip to the semi-finals on the line. Results were not available at press time.