The Olton Mustang’s varsity basketball team saw their season come to an end in the 2A Regional Tournament, as they fell to the Christoval Cougars, 59-42, in the Regional Semi-final at South Plains College’s Texan Dome on Friday.
With the loss, the Mustangs finished the season with a mark of 32-4 overall.
The Cougars opened the game on a, 5-0, scoring run, before Jose Canchola dropped in a lay-up, off of an assist from Chris Urbina to trim the lead to, 5-2, with 6:24 to play in the opening quarter. Beau Jolly dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Sevastian Salinas, but Andrew Martinez answered with a put-back to cut the lead to, 7-4.
With 4:50 remaining in the opening quarter, Jolly hit Josh Fava for a reverse lay-up, but on the next play, Brennon Huguley took a charge on Jolly to regain possession for Olton. With 2:33 remaining in the quarter, Alex Santillan was fouled on an attempt by Landon Scott. He made one-of-two shots at the line to make the score, 9-5.
Salinas took a charge on Chris Urbina and the Cougars capitalized on the turnover, as Fava dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Santillan. He converted the three throw and Jolly followed it up with a lay-up off of an assist from Jaron Salton to extend their lead to, 14-5. Nathan Urbina dropped in a put-back off of his own miss to close out the first quarter, with the Cougars in front, 14-7.
Jolly double pumped for a lay-up to open the second quarter for Christoval, but Martinez answered with a putback off of a miss by Soliz, as the Cougars took a time out with 3:26 to play in the first half. Out of the break, Huguley knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line to make it a five-point game, 16-11.
With under one minute remaining in the first half, Slaton drove to the basket for a layup and Cayden Carpenter followed it up with a lay-up off of the assist from Salinas to close out the first half with the Cougars on top, 20-11.
Martinez opened the second half with a three off of the assist from Soliz, but Salinas responded with back-to-back threes for the Cougars to extend their lead to, 26-14. Huguley dropped in a lay-up, but the Cougars answered with a put-back by Scott to push their lead to, 28-16, with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Soliz drove the lane for a layup, as Christoval took a time out with 3:40 remaining in the quarter, and out of the break, Fava dropped in a floater to extend the lead to, 30-18. With under three minutes remaining in the quarter, Huguley knocked down a jumper, drawing an an and-one foul on Scott. He converted the free throw to cut the lead to singledigits, 30-21.
Christoval scored back-to-back buckets, before taking a time out with 2:07 left to play in the quarter. Nick Casares buried a three out of the break, off of the assist from Soliz and with under one minute to play in the quarter, Casares was fouled on an attempt by Carpenter. He knocked down both shots at the line, cutting the lead to eight points, 34-26.
Cobi Woodfin dropped in a floater from the left side, but Nathan Urbina answered with a jumper from the right wing to make the score, 36-28. With time winding down in the quarter, Jolly dropped in a lay-up, but Santillan closed out the quarter with a bucket for Olton to make the score, 38-30, going into the final quarter of play.
Christoval opened the fourth quarter on a, 7-0, scoring run, before Soliz drove the lane, kicking the ball out to Martinez, who knocked down a three to make the score, 45- 33. Huguley picked up a steal, pulling up for a jumper from the left elbow to cut the lead to 10 points, 45-35, as the Cougars took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Huguley dropped in a put-back off of a miss by Nathan Urbina and Soliz forced a jumpball that gave possession back to Olton with 3:58 remaining in the game. Jolly was fouled on the floor by Huguley and converted both free throws, pushing their lead back out to, 47- 37. With 3:30 remaining in the game, Jolly was fouled on an attempt by Santillan, who fouled out of the contest. He made one-of-two shots at the line to make the score, 48-37.
Huguley dropped in a putback off of a miss by Chris Urbina, as Olton took a time out with 3:04 remaining in the game. Out of the break, Scott was fouled on the floor by Soliz and sank both free throws at the line to extend their lead to, 50-39. Christoval closed out the game on a, 9-3, scoring run to take the Regional Semi-Final match-up, 59-42.
Huguley led the team in scoring with 13 points, while Martinez tallied 10 points and Casares and Soliz each finished with five points. Nathan Urbina tallied four points, while Santillan added three points and Canchola finished with two points.