MUSTANGS KNOCK OFF #15 FARWELL, 45-41

The 18th ranked Olton Mustangs’ varsity basketball team won a thriller over the 15^th ranked Farwell Steers on the road on Friday, 45-41.

With the win, the Mustangs improve to 18-1 overall and 3-0 in district play.

Head Coach Bobby Workman talked about the performance of his team in the victory, saying, “It was just a matter of us wanting to go win it and not playing not to lose. We were so caught up in our game plan and what we needed to do. Once we called a time out and kind of settled down and started playing harder, I felt like that kind of turned a little bit. Of course, we knocked some shots down to get us back into it, but I think our defensive energy and going out and taking it is what got us there.”

He added, “It is big, but like I talked to our guys, we still have to play everyone one more time and we have to beat Bovina on Tuesday and just take it one game at a time. We can be happy right now, because it was a big win, but we also know that we aren’t even half way done and we still have a lot to prove going forward.”

Leefe Actkinson opened the contest with a three from the right wing, off of the assist from Waldrop, but the Mustangs answered, as sophomore, Jake Soliz, hit a cutting senior, Jack Allcorn, on the back side for a reverse lay-up to make the score, 3-2, with 7:09 remaining in the opening quarter.

Junior, Chris Urbina, buried a three from the left wing off of the assist from Allcorn to give Olton their first lead of the game, but Farwell quickly answered with a bucket to tie the game, 5-5.

With 5:07 left to play in the first quarter, Urbina took a charge on Actkinson and Olton capitalized, as Soliz picked up a steal and got it ahead to senior, Israel Santillan for a lay-up. He drew an and-one foul on the play on Leo Nunez and converted the free throw to push the Olton lead out to, 8-5.

With 4:28 left in the quarter, Head Coach Bobby Workman was called for a technical foul sending Waldrop to the line for Farwell. He split the free throws and Slade Perkins followed it up with a three from the right corner to regain the lead for Farwell, 9-8.

With just over two minutes remaining in the quarter, Jonathan Mora drained a three from the left elbow, but Urbina answered with a put-back off of a miss by Allcorn, trimming the Steer’s lead to, 12-10. With time winding down in the quarter, Israel Santillan buried a three from the right corner to give Olton a, 13-12, lead heading into quarter number two.

Allcorn was fouled on a shot attempt by Sides to open the second quarter; he split the free throws make it a one-possession game, 14-12. But, on the other end, Actkinson too the ball to the hoop for a lay-up on the left side to tie the game, 14-14.

With 5:31 left to play in the first half, senior, Aldo Vasquez, found Joe Canchola open for a short jumper to give the Mustangs the lead once again, 16-14. Farwell took a time out with 5:08 remaining in the half, and out of the break, Mora drained a three from the top of the key, putting the Steers back in front, 17-16.

Mora followed it up with a runner off the glass to make it a three-point Farwell lead, 19-16. Olton took a time out with 2:23 remaining in the half, and out of the break, Mora knocked down a jumper in the lane, pushing their lead out to, 21-16. With under one minute to play, Allcorn was fouled on the floor, earning a one-in-one opportunity at the line. He made one-out-of-two shots at the line, trimming the lead to, 21-17, going into the locker room at halftime.

Mora opened the second half strong for Farwell, as he drained a three from the top of the key and followed it up with a lay-up off of a steal, drawing an andone foul on the play. He converted the free throw to make it a 10-point Farwell lead, 27-17, with 6:52 remaining in the contest.

Leo Nunez dropped in a fastbreak lay-up to push the lead to 12 points, as Olton took a time out with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter. Out of the break, senior, Bryson Ramage dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Allcorn, and Allcorn followed it up with a three from the left elbow to cut the lead to, 29-22.

With 3:39 to play in the quarter, Allcorn knocked down a jumper from the right wing to trim the lead to, 29-24, as Farwell took a time out to try and slow down the Mustangs momentum. Out of the break, Mora dropped in a lay-up on the right side for Farwell, but Allcorn answered with a three from the top of the key, off of the assist from Israel Santillan, cutting the lead to, 31-27, with just over three minutes to play in the quarter.

Perkins dropped in a floater for the Steers, but on the other end, Allcorn dropped in a lay-up off of the dump-off pass from Vasquez, drawing an and-one foul on the play. He missed the free throw, but got his own rebound, which led to a jumper from the right elbow from Israel Santillan to make it a one-possession game, 33-31.

With time winding down in the quarter, Urbina knocked down a short jumper from the left elbow off of the assist from Vasquez to send them into the fourth quarter all knotted up, 33-33.

Urbina opened the fourth quarter with a jumper from the right elbow off of the assist from Vasquez, but on the other end, Aldo Galvan was fouled on an attempt by Ramage; he split the free throws, making the score, 35-34. The Mustangs were able to answer on the other end, as Vasquez drove the lane and kicked it out to Israel Santillan, who knocked down the corner three to push the Olton lead out to, 38-34.

With 3:43 remaining in the game, Leo Nunez scored a layup in transition to make it a twopoint game, 38-36, and the Mustangs took a 30-second time out with 2:58 left to play in the game. Out of the break, Urbina dropped in a floater from the left side off of the assist from Soliz, but Farwell came right back, as Actkinson scored a put-back off of a miss by Waldrop, making the score, 40-38.

With just over two minutes remaining, Ramage scored a putback off of a miss by Urbina, but Mora answered with a three from the right elbow off of the assist from Jose Rodriguez, making it a one-point game, 42-41.

With under one minute to play, Israel Santillan was fouled on the floor by Perkins, as the Steers took a time out to talk things over. Out of the break, Israel Santillan missed the front end of the one-in-one opportunity, but Urbina came away with a huge offensive rebound. Israel Santillan was fouled on the floor with 39.7 seconds remaining and sank both free throws to make it a three-point game, 44-41.

Farwell took a time out with 24.2 to play, and out of the break, Urbina was fouled on the floor by Waldrop. He missed the free throw, but on their next possession, Israel Santillan split a pair of free throws to ice the game for Olton, 45-41,as they came away with the victory on the road.

“He [Israel] puts in the time in the gym and we always joke around and tell him ‘this is for the district championship’ when he is on the line in practice. It was kind of funny the way it worked out with him being on the line tonight at the end of the game. He missed the first one and Chris got a big rebound and Israel responded and knocked down the next two, which was huge.”

Allcorn and Israel Santillan led the team in scoring, each pouring in 14 points, while Urbina chipped in 11 points.

Ramage tallied four points and Canchola finished with two points in the contest.

The Mustangs hosted Bovina on Tuesday to close out the first half of district play. Results were not available at press time. They will open the second half of district play on Tuesday with a road game against Vega.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.