The Olton Mustang’s varsity basketball team punched their ticket to the Class 2A-DI Regional Semi-Finals on Friday with a, 5345, overtime victory over the West Texas Comanches at Tascosa High School.
“Coming into this game, I knew what kind of physical test this would be. They are so well coached, they’re big, they have a great guard and I knew it would be tough for us. We weren’t making shots early, but I loved the resiliency of our team. We believed and we always knew and we came out in that third quarter and set the tone for the rest of the game.”
He talked about the play of his guard Sebastian Sparkman, who iced the game with some late free throws, saying, “He’ll be the first one to tell you he is probably not happy with how he played, but he does such a great job for us. That is hours and hours of shooting free throws in the gym after practice and it paid off for him. He is the hardest worker I know, nothing phases him, nothing rattles him and I’m glad he’s on our side.”
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 28-4 overall on the year.
Cash Fulton opened the contest for West Texas with a jumper from the right elbow, but Olton answered on the other end, as Sparkman dished the ball to Raymond Ramirez, who passed it to Allen Vasquez for a lay-up in transition to tie the game, 2-2, with 5:34 to play in the opening quarter. With under five minutes to go in the first quarter, Rylee Buck was fouled on an attempt by Wyatt Nelson. He made one-of-two shots at the foul line to put the Comanches up, 3-2.
Vasquez buried a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Sparkman, but the Comanches quickly answered, as Blake Flowers dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Cayde Winters, tying the game, 5-5. With just over two minutes to play in the quarter, Brodey Stone dropped in a floater drawing an and- one foul on Vasquez. He converted the free throw to give West Texas a threepoint advantage, 8-5.
Matt Flores dropped in a putback off of a miss by Sparkman and John Cooper followed it up with a put-back off of a miss by Brady Azam, putting Olton back in front, 9-8. West Texas, though, would close out the quarter with back-to-back buckets from Stone and Winters to put the Comanches in front, 12-9, heading into quarter number two.
Winters hit a step-back three from the left elbow to open the second frame for West Texas, but on the other end, Cooper was fouled on an attempt by Buck, earning a trip to the foul line. He converted both free throws to cut the lead to four-points, but Winters answered with another three, this time from the right elbow, stretching the lead to, 18-11, with 6:39 to play in the half.
Buck drew a blocking foul on Vasquez, his second foul of the game. Buck made one-of-two shots from the line, as West Texas took a time out with 4:11 to play in the half, leading the Mustangs, 1911. Out of the break, Azam dropped in a pu-back off of a miss by Flores to trim the lead to, 19-13, but the Comanches would again answer, as Kooper Hernandez hit Fulton on a back-door cut for a lay-up to make the score, 21-13, with 2:28 to play in the first half.
With just over two minutes to play in the half, Flores was fouled on an attempt by Fulton; he made one-of-two shots from the line, trimming the lead to, 21- 14. Hernandez dropped in a lay-up for West Texas, but Sparkman answered with a pull-up three from the right elbow to make it a sixpoint game, 23-17, going into the locker room at halftime.
Sparkman opened the second half with a put-back off of his own miss, but the Comanches responded with a quick bucket to make the score, 25-19. With 6:24 to play in the third quarter, Cooper was fouled on a put-back attempt by Stone. He converted both shots at the line to trim the lead to four points, 25-21. With 3:54 remaining in the half, Nelson dished the ball to Azam in transition, who pulled up for a jumper from the right elbow making it a one-possession game, 25-23.
On their next possession, Raymond Ramirez was fouled on a third- chance attempt by Hernandez. He made the first shot and missed the second, but Azam was there for the offensive rebound, as he dished it to Ramirez, who gave it right back to Azam, who buried a three from the left corner to put the Mustangs in front, 27-25, with 3:22 to play in the third quarter.
Flores drove the lane, dumping the ball off to Nelson for a lay-up, pushing their lead to four points, 29-25, as West Texas took a time out with 2:23 to play in the quarter. Out of the break, Sparkman was fouled on an attempt by Winters, his second foul of the game. He made the first shot and the Mustangs were called for a lane violation on the second shot, leaving the score, 30-25.
Sparkman followed it up with a floater in the lane, but with time winding down in the quarter, Winters drained a three from the top of the key to make the score, 3228, heading into the final quarter of play.
Flores opened the final frame with a floater from the right side off of an assist from Azam, as West took a time out with 7:13 to play. Out of the break, Sparkman knocked down a jumper from the left elbow and on the defensive end, Vasquez took a charge on Winters, giving him his third foul of the game. The Comanches would regain possession, as Fulton knocked down a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Winters to make it a five-point Olton lead, 36-31.
Winters drove the left side for a lay-up to cut the lead to three points, as Olton took a time out With 1:18 to play, Sparkman was blocked by Buck, who got the ball to Hernandez on the fast-break for a lay-up, tying the game, 40-40. The Comanches took a time out with 1:11 to play, and out of the break, Vasquez was fouled on an attempt by Stone, his second. He made one-of-two shots at the line to give the Mustangs a one-point lead, 41-40. Sparkman turned the ball over on West Texas’ side of the floor and Winters was fouled on a shot attempt by Nelson, his second with 20 seconds remaining. He split the free throws to tie the game, 41-41, as Olton took a time out to draw up a play.
The Mustangs would advanced the ball across half court before calling another time out with 5.5 seconds to play. A jumper from the right side by Sparkman was off the mark, as the game headed to overtime.
Azam picked up a steal to begin the overtime period, as he dished it ahead to Flores, who dumped it off to Sparkman for a lay-up to put Olton on top, 43-41. With 1:27 to play in overtime, Ramirez was fouled on an offensive rebound by Fulton. He converted both free throws to stretch their lead to, 4541.
The Comanches called for a time out and out of the break, Sparkman would knock down a pair of free throws to make it a six-point game, 47-41. With 35 seconds to play in overtime, Ramirez was fouled on the floor by Buck to preserve the clock. He sank both free throws to push their lead to eight points, 4941. on the other end, Stone was fouled on an attempt by Ramirez, his fourth. Stone would convert both free throws, as Olton took a time out to talk things over.
Out of the break, Ramirez would run the baseline before calling another time out to draw up a new play. With 21.6 seconds to play, Sparkman was fouled on the floor by Fulton and converted both free throws to push their lead to, 5143. Both teams would knock down a pair of free throws in the closing seconds, as Olton went on to take the 2A-DI Area Championship over West Texas, 53-45.
Sparkman talked about the victory, saying, “It’s awesome, we got a win, we get to practice again and we know there are not a lot of teams playing right now. We’re not taking it for granted and are living in the moment, we’re just ready to get back to work.”
He talked about the free throws that essentially iced the game for the Mustang’s, saying, “Everyday after practice Matt Flores and I make 100 free throws, so it was just another two free throws.”
The Mustangs were led by Sparkman, who netted 18 points. Cooper tallied eight points, while Azam and Flores each chipped in seven points, Vasquez contributed six points and Ramirez added five points. Nelson finished with two points in the contest.
The Mustangs clashed with the Reagan County Owls on Tuesday in Lamesa with a trip to the 2A-DI Regional Finals on the line. Results were not available at press time.