Mullen takes third place at Girls State Basketball Tournament
LINCOLN - After finishing fourth last season, the Mullen girl’s basketball team had one goal, which was to win the D2 State Championship in 2021. Ultimately, the Broncos finished short of that, but went 2-1 and finished third in D2 by defeating Exeter-Milligan 53-30, losing to Humphrey St. Francis 65-59, and then rebounded to beat Wynot 3028 in the third and fourth place game of the Nebraska State Girls Basketball Tournament that was held in Lincoln March 2-6.
“I am so happy for them,” Mullen Coach Clint Svoboda said. “Especially after coming down here last year and having some hard lessons in similar situations. To see them grow from that from last year to this season throughout the practices and games we had and then have it all come together when you have to have it is something, they will take with them the rest of their lives.”
The Bronco’s most thrilling win of the state tournament came in the third and fourth place game vs the 2020 D2 State Champions Wynot.
Out of the gate, the Blue Devils used a suffocating defense to jump out to a 7-2 advantage. The only basket during that stretch came on a layup inside by Shelby Welsh.
At the end of the first quarter of play, Wynot was up 11-2.
The Broncos were finally able to get their offense going to start the second quarter. Brooke McCully made a hook shot in the lane, and then Samantha Moore made one of two free-throws at the line making the score 11-5 in favor of the Blue Devils.
Mullen got as close as five points after Taylor Svoboda made a jump shot while being fouled. The free-throw made it 13-8.
Wynot responded with a 5-2 run that was set up with a three-pointer by Krystal Sudbeck.
With little time left in the second quarter, the Broncos were able to set Moore up with a three-pointer off a great hustle play by Welsh. At halftime, Mullen trailed 18-13.
After struggling to make shots and to rebound the ball in the first half, Moore stated the team never got down on themselves. They knew they just kept up with the best team in their class the prior day and needed to figure out a way to get the offense going.
“We said to ourselves we just played with the number one team Humphrey St. Francis,” Moore said. “We asked ourselves what we were doing out there and we definitely knew we could play way better than we were. We all just looked at each other and said let’s go.”
The second half did not necessarily start great for the Broncos. The Blue Devils Karley Heimes put in two three-pointers up top, and Kayla Pinkelman made a layup to give Wynot a double-digit advantage at 28-18.
To end the quarter, Taylor Svoboda made two free-throws at the line to cut the deficit to 2820 heading to the fourth quarter.
Welsh was able to make a quick layup for the Broncos out of the gate and then Kylie Licking made two free-throws.
The free-throw line became the Broncos friend to close out the game as they made four of six down the stretch to tie the game at 28-28. It was the exact opposite for the Blue Devils who failed to make any free-throws in the final quarter.
With under twenty seconds Wynot was unable to score and Mullen got the rebound.
This prompted Clint Svoboda to call a timeout where they drew up a play called ghost. Originally Moore was supposed to come off a double screen and try to get the ball, but a double team on her stopped that from happening. This left Welsh wide open on the right side of the court, and she did not hesitate to put the shot up and make it with less than five seconds to go.
“I was thinking that nobody else was open so I might as well take the shot,” Welsh said. “Hopefully if I didn’t make the shot, Sam or Brooke would have gotten a rebound and got to the line.”
Wynot threw up one more prayer with little time remaining and it was off the mark.
Both Moore and Welsh finished the outing with eight points and Taylor Svoboda had seven points.
The Broncos ended up in the third-place game after losing to St. Francis on March 4 in the D2 Semifinals at Pinnacle Bank Arena. It was definitely not a repeat of the 68-38 Semifinals lost the Flyers dealt Mullen the prior year, with the Broncos pushing St. Francis to the bitter end.
Early on it was the Flyers who took a 2-0 lead thanks to a jumper by Nebraska recruit Allison Weidner.
Mullen scored their first point of the game with a free-throw from Welsh. That was followed up by Taylor Svoboda knocking down a jumper and making it 6-3 in favor of St. Francis.
Trailing 9-3, the Broncos were able to get backto-back threes by Kylie Licking and Samantha Moore to tie the game up.
The Flyers ended the first quarter on a 4-0 run and led 13-9 after one quarter.
To begin the second quarter St. Francis separated themselves from
Mullen with a three by Weidner to start. The lead grew to 21-9 after Kaylee Stricklin made two free throws after drawing a foul.
Mullen did not flinch and after going down by as many as fourteen points the Broncos started to make a comeback.
It started with two free-throws from Hanna Marshall and then Moore made back-to-back jumpers. At halftime, Mullen trailed 30-23.
After the tough start to the second, Clint Svoboda thought his team was able to settle down and get through the adversity that was dealt to them.
“I just thought we were able to settle down,” Clint Svoboda said. “We didn’t have a lot of nerves, but I think we had a little out of the gate. We knew what to do and we have good players, we were just finally able to settle in.”
Out of the break, Moore was able to start the second half off with a steal and layup. A few possessions later she connected on a jumper to make it 33-28.
After a missed shot by the Broncos, Marshall was able to grab a rebound underneath and make a layup. Lindey Coble did the same thing the next time down the court, and all of a sudden Mullen was trailing 35-31.
The Broncos were able to tie the game up at 38-38 when Taylor Svoboda got to the rim and finished, but St. Francis ended the quarter on a 6-2 run to give themselves a 4440 lead heading to the fourth.
Mullen was very resilient in the fourth and every time that the Flyers tried to pull away, they had an answer. This was put on full display when Taylor Svoboda knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game up at 53 apiece.
Later on, a jumper by Welsch put Mullen ahead 59-58 with less than a minute to go.
It was at this time; St. Francis was able to get a key three-pointer by Allisa Kosch. After a missed shot the next time down for the Broncos, they were forced to foul.
The Flyers sealed their third trip to the Finals in four years at the line.
“We improved a lot and learned a lot from last year and we were ready to win this game,” Clint Svoboda said. “We just ran out of time and all the credit goes to Humphrey for being on top when the buzzer went off.”
The Broncos were led by UNK commit Moore with 28 points. Also in double figures was Taylor Svoboda with 10 points.
In the first round of the State Girls Basketball Tournament, Mullen was able to pick up their biggest win vs the fifth seed Exeter-Milligan.
Moore was able to start the game off with a three-pointer. McCully’s jumper in the lane made it 7-4 Broncos.
A steal and layup by Moore gave Mullen an 11-8 lead after the first quarter of action.
The game for the most part stayed tight throughout the second quarter. It was not until the end of the half that Lindey Coble, Welsh, and Licking were all able to make buckets to give the Broncos a 25-19 halftime lead.
“It really started for us the last minute forty of the second quarter,” Clint Svoboda said. “We picked it up intensity-wise, turned them over, and were able to get to the rim. Just the energy from that and how we were playing defense was what sparked us out of the gate in the second half.”
The biggest key for Mullen is they were able to put together a tremendous third quarter where they outscored the Timberwolves 20-7.
McCully was a big reason for that making a basket while getting fouled to start the half out. The next time down she was fouled and made two free throws to give Mullen a 32-21 lead.
“I love Brooke’s energy and she is our defensive leader in a lot of ways,” Clint Svoboda said. “She has got the green light when the ball comes into her to attack the basket. She has embraced that this season and she did a great job for us.”
To finish the third quarter out Moore made a three-pointer to give the Broncos a 45-26 edge heading to the final frame.
Mullen got quick layups by Taylor Svoboda and Moore to start the quarter and then relied on their defense that held E-M to four points in the fourth to win the game.
Both Taylor Svoboda and Moore finished the game with 16 points. Also, in double figures was McCully with ten points.
For her performance throughout her three games at state this year, Moore was selected as a member of the 2021 State Girls Basketball All-Tournament Team put out by the Omaha World-Herald.
This tournament also marked the end for Moore, McCully, Licking, Michelle Brown, Josey French, Lindey Coble, and Marshall. Over their four years in high school, they have made it to state three times and compiled a record of 48-10 over the last two years.
“We have some pieces coming back who are good players, and we have some young players who are coming along at a rapid pace,” Clint Svoboda said. “I think something like this can only bolster that and if we go to work in the off-season, we are going to have a good squad next year.”