Gritty Mustangs rally to stun HJ, 72-71

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Gritty Mustangs rally to stun H-J, 72-71

Van Wade
The Orange Leader

WEST ORANGE — This week, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs have been loving them some fourth-quarter heroics.

Down 52-41 to Bridge City on Tuesday, the Mustangs went on a 28-14 tear in the fourth period to turn back their Orange County rival 69-66.

On Friday night at Mustang Gym, they WO-S slayed an even tougher dragon.

Trailing eighth-ranked Hardin-Jefferson 58-49 entering the fourth period, the Mustangs went on a 23-13 spurt in the final eight minutes to stun the Hawks 72-71.

After scoring just 24 points in the first half and trailing 37-24, the Mustangs (20-9, 6-3) erupted for 48 in the second half to thwart the Hawks (30-4, 7-2).

On Senior Night, senior Justin Francis picked the best night to have his best game of the year. Francis poured in 16 points and connected on four three-point bombs. However, his best play of the night came with 15 seconds left when he penetrated the lane, scored and got fouled to tie the contest at 71-71. He calmly sank what was the game-winning free-throw.

H-J got one last shot as Grayson Sutherland, the son of legendary Hawks coach Todd Sutherland, missed a three-point attempt and Shon Prudhomme missed a shot off a rebound and the capacity Mustang crowd charged the court to celebrate with the WO-S squad.

“What more can I say about our kids, they left everything they had on the court,” said first-year WO-S coach Donald Newton. “We were down big at the half but the kids didn’t hang their heads, they came out and got after it and made so many key plays down the stretch.”

H-J nipped WO-S 63-61 in Sour Lake in the first of of 21-3A play.

“Our kids played with such togetherness and poise in the second half,” said Newton. “We cut down on our turnovers and picked up the defensive intensity. I’m so happy for all the kids. What more can you say about Justin Francis tonight, the senior stepped up big-time in a big-time situation. Our crowd gave us a tremendous boost and the kids fed off that energy as well.”

Francis, who scored nine points, including two three-pointers in the decisive quarter, had plenty of help in the comeback.

Point guard Kendrick Budwine led the Mustangs with 17 points, 13 coming after intermission, including three three-pointers. He had eight points in the third quarter, six of them via the trey.

JaKeenen Cotton continues to be a workhorse inside as he recorded a double-double, tallying 14 points while hauling down 12 rebounds and he scored five points in the fourth period.

Posts Darius Davis and Robert Redd combined for 19 points and seven boards. Davis had 11 points while Redd had eight points and five rebounds.

Sutherland’s miss at the end of the contest didn’t put a damper on how the young man played throughout the contest. The Mustangs simply had no answer for the “gym rat.”

Sutherland finished with a whopping 31 points. He connected on seven three-point shots. He kept WO-S at bay in the third period by scoring 12 points, including two three-pointers.

Jacoby Turner had 14 points for the Hawks. Guard Garrett Gustafson had nine points. Blake Venable had six points and five boards and Phillip Ricossa had five points and six rebounds.

H-J led 16-14 at the end of the first period as Sutherland had two three-pointers while Turner and Gustafson had a trey apiece.

The Hawks went on a 21-10 tear in the second quarter with Sutherland getting eight points as he hit two more three-pointers while Gustafson had five in the period.

The Mustangs finished with a 30-25 rebounding edge.

WO-S finished with 24 turnovers, 17 of them coming in the first half, while H-J finished with 16.

WO-S, a team that usually struggles from the line, made a solid 17-of-26 of its charity shots while H-J went just 8-of-17.

The Mustangs will venture to Orange County rival Orangefield (17-16, 3-6) Tuesday. The Bobcats defeated Bridge City (13-19, 2-7) 69-61 Friday.

Meanwhile, the Hawks will host first-place and fifth-ranked Silsbee (27-2, 9-0), which handed last-place Hamshire-Fannett (6-22, 0-9) a 98-60 defeat Friday.