The Olton Mustangs’ varsity basketball team cruised past the Tulia Hornets on Monday, 52-25, to open play at the Wildcat Classic.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 1-0 in tournament play on the week.
Brady Azam got the Mustangs going with a lay-up off of the inbound pass from Matt Flores under the basket, but on the other end, Cj Parker was fouled on an attempt by Alex Green. He converted both shots at the line to tie the game, 2-2, with 6:12 to play in the opening quarter. Azam dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Flores, but on the other end, Parker answered again with a lay-up, off of the assist from Cruz Chapa, making the score, 44.
With 2:39 to play in the quarter, Azam dropped in a lay-up, off of an assist from Zayden Falcon and Green drove the lane, dumping the ball off to Azam for a layup, stretching their lead to, 8-4. With 19 seconds to play in the quarter, Chris Cabrera dropped in a layup on the left side off of the assist from Carrasco and Azam closed out the quarter with a three from the right wing, off an assist from Green, pushing their lead to, 13-4, heading into quarter number two.
Carrasco opened up the second frame with a steal, taking it to the hoop for a fast- break lay- up and Cabrera dropped in a putback off of his own miss to extend their lead to, 17-4, with 6:34 to play in the first half. Azam was fouled on a put-back attempt by Gavin Mahannah; he split the attempts at the line, making the score, 18-4.
With just under five minutes to play in the half, Deshaun Yarbrough split a pair of free throws, after being fouled by Rylan Holmes, his second of the game. But, Cabrera would hit Falcon for a lay-up and Sebastian Sparkman followed it up with a fast-break lay-up off of a steal, stretching their lead to, 22-5, as Tulia took a time out with 4:22 to play in the half.
Out of the break, Green picked up a steal and was fouled on a shot attempt by Elijah Wonzo. He made one-of-two shots from the line, pushing their lead to, 23-5. Wonzo banked in a floater off of an assist from Parker and Wonzo followed it up by splitting a pair of free throws, after being fouled on the floor by Carrasco, his third of the game. With just over two minutes remaining in the half, Falcon grabbed a steal, dishing it to Sparkman for a fast-break lay-up, extending the lead to, 25-8.
Mahannah was fouled on the floor by Sparkman and split the attempts at the line, trimming the lead to, 25-9. With under a minute to go in the half, Azam grabbed a steal and dished the outlet pass to Flores for a fastbreak lay- up, but Tulia would close out the half with a bucket, as the Mustangs took a, 27-11, lead into the locker room at halftime.
Azam opened the third quarter with a put-back off of a miss by Flores and Sparkman followed it up with a pass through traffic to Azam for a lay-up, making the score, 31-11, with 6:38 to play in the third quarter. Flores hit Azam with an outlet pass for a fast-break lay-up and on their next possession, Green was fouled on an attempt by Chapa. He converted both shots at the line to make the score, 35-11.
With 3:48 left to play in the third, Azam grabbed an offensive rebound and dropped in a secondchance lay-up and Green followed it up with a three from the left elbow off of an assist from Falcon, stretching their lead to, 4011. Flores kept it going with a lay- up, but Yabrough ended the scoring drought for Tulia with a lay-up, trimming the lead to, 42-13.
Chapa knocked down a jumper in the lane for Tulia, but with under a minute to play, Holmes was fouled on a put- back attempt by Paxton Watson. He converted one-of-two shots from the line to make the score, 43-15, heading into the final quarter of play.
Mahannah opened the fourth quarter with a three from the left elbow, but Azam responded with a jump hook off the glass, off of an assist from Sparkman, making the score, 45-18. With 6:15 to play, Green was fouled on an attempt and converted both shots at the line, as Tulia took a time out with 5:03 left to play, trailing, 4718. Out of the break, Azam knocked down a pair of free throws and Cabrera followed it up with an outlet pass to Falcon, who was fouled on an attempt by Yarbrough, his second. Falcon made one-of-two shots from the line, making the score, 50-18, with 3:32 remaining.
A bad pass by Olton was picked up by Yarbrough, who took it to the hoop for a fast-break lay-up, trimming the lead to, 50-20. Green drove the right side for a lay-up, but Parker answered with a three from the right elbow, off of an assist from Yarbrough, cutting the lead to, 52- 23. Chapa closed out the game with a lay-up for Tulia, as Olton took the contest, 5225.
Azam led the Mustangs in scoring with 24 points, while Green chipped in nine points and Sparkman, Flores and Cabrera each contributed four points. Falcon tallied three points, while Carrasco added two points and Holmes finished with one point in the contest.