Late Rally dooms Mullen vs Falls City Sacred Heart
LINCOLN - The D2 No. 2 Mullen Boys Basketball team had high aspirations heading into the 2021 Boys State Basketball Tournament after finishing fourth a season ago. The hopes of bringing home a State Title were dashed by the eventual State Champions Falls City Sacred Heart 49-47 March 10 at Lincoln East.
“This was a special group, a very special group,” Mullen Coach Brad Wright said. “They brought it every day and the ball just didn’t bounce our way this year.”
Out of the gate, the Irish scored the first points of the game on a jumper by Jacob Froeschi. The Broncos answered back with two free-throws by Clayton Moore.
The next time down the court for Mullen, Trevor Kuncl was able to dial it in from long range to give the Broncos a 5-2 advantage.
The momentum continued to build for Mullen when Moore made a three and McIntosh had backto-back layups. This put FCSH in a 12-4 hole early on.
This didn’t faze the Irish who got points from Jack Fiegener off a turnover. Layups by Fiegener and Joe Simon made it a two-point game at 12-10.
A three by Brendon Walker to end the quarter ended a 6-0 run for the Irish and gave the Broncos a 15-10 lead after one-quarter of play.
Mullen continued to ride that success into the second quarter, where Kuncl knocked down a jumper to start things off. A layup by Walker off a good pass from Moore put the Broncos in front 19-14.
Moore continued to be the answer when it came to points, as he put in a jump shot and knocked down two free-throws. A three by Walker gave Mullen a 28-17 halftime edge.
The Broncos were paced in the first half by Moore who was not only trying to shoot Mullen into the semifinals but was passing the ball tremendously.
“He carried us tonight,” Wright said. “He really brought it there in the first half and got us clicking.”
Things started okay for the Broncos in the second half, as Kyle Bauman and McIntosh traded buckets. It was after this, FCSH went on an 8-0 run that was capped off with a jumper in the lane by Jacob Froeschi to trim Mullen’s lead to 31-29.
Jaden Emerson, Kuncl, and Moore were both able to answer back with big three-point field goals that helped the Broncos keep a 40-36 lead heading to the final frame.
Adding another three-pointer to the already seven made for Mullen in the game was Moore to start the fourth. A layup by McIntosh in the lane put the Broncos in front 45-37.
The Irish were able to trim the lead down to three points after a layup off a turnover by Jacob Froeschi and a free throw by Brogran Nachtigal. It became a two-possession game again at 47-42 when Moore knocked down a jumper with less than five minutes to go.
Despite the deficit, FCSH never panicked and showed why they were the defending D2 State Champions late in the contest.
A layup by Nachtigal underneath made it a one-possession contest and a three-point game. It was tied at 47 apiece after Evan Keithley came off the bench and put in a three-pointer.
With under a minute to go, the Broncos had the option to hold for the last shot, but instead, put up a three with around thirty seconds to go. This resulted in the Irish getting a rebound and bleeding the clock to under ten seconds and Jakob Jordan making a contested shot in the middle.
The half court heave by Moore was off the mark and the Irish ended up stealing a two-point win right underneath Mullen’s nose.
In the game, the Broncos only trailed the final ten seconds of regulation. The biggest contributor to the defeat was the fact they scored four points in the final five minutes of play.
“In the second half we just got our composure mixed up a little bit and turned it over,” Wright said. “Against good teams like that, you can’t make mistakes like that.”
Leading the charge for Mullen in terms of scoring was Moore with 20 points. Walker ended the night with ten points and both Kuncl and McIntosh had six points.
Despite getting knocked out in the first round, there was no question the Broncos gave FCSH their toughest game as they won by 11 points over Humphrey St. Francis and 27 points over Parkview Christian in the State Championship game.
Because of this, Mullen was rewarded a No. 2 ranking in D2 in the final boy’s basketball rankings put out by the Omaha World-Herald.
The Broncos lose two seniors off this year’s team that went 23-4 in Walker and McIntosh. Both were starters and instrumental in the success of Mullen the last few years.
“It’s hard right now thinking that this was their last game in a Mullen uniform,” Wright said. “They brought so much to this program over the last four years and I’m proud of them and the way they battled throughout their time in the program.”