Road Warriors

By Brody Feldmann

Staff Writer

 

PUTNAM CITY- The Mustang Broncos basketball team competed in the Putnam City Invitational over the weekend and found their offense while earning a fifth place finish.

“Every time we step on the floor we are playing a little better with a little more confidence. Reason we are in games is we are playing defensively really, really well,” head coach Robert Foreman said.

The Broncos hadn’t had a game this season that they had more than one player score in double digits but, they had double digit scorers in two of the three games this weekend.

On Thursday night in the first round of the invitational Mustang faced the No. 1 team in the state Tulsa Union.

The Broncos played them close and had the game within a few possessions for most of the game until Union pulled away late for a 49-37 victory.

Quantrell Jackson led the Broncos with 22 points while the second highest scorer was Zalek Sharp with only five points. Mustang was in foul trouble all night as well, Diego Gray fouled out, Deshawn Franklin finished with four fouls and Phil Baker and Sharp both had three.

After the tournament was pushed back to Saturday due to inclement weather the Broncos faced Sunrise Academy (KS) in the first round of the consolation bracket.

The Broncos defeated Sunrise Academy 63-48 and this was the Broncos offensive breakout game. Jackson finished with 22, Sharp had 13, Baker with 12 and Diego added 11 for the Broncos.

“We are starting to improve offensively, Quantrell has been our mainstay but Diego, Phil and Zalek are starting to make shots,” Foreman said.

In the consolation finals for fifth and sixth the Broncos defeated Putnam City 54-48. In the victory Gray had a team high of 17, Jackson added 15 and Sharp finished with 12.

“We played tight and got scared. Everyone stopped looking to score, third quarter offense we played free and easy. In the fourth quarter we were playing not to lose rather than playing to win,” Foreman said about losing a 14 point lead in the fourth quarter.

With the victory over the Pirates the Broncos now move to 4-4 on the season and earn a fifth place finish in the Putnam City Invitational.

During the tournament the Broncos averaged 51.3 points on offense and only gave up an average of 48.3 points on defense.

“Any win for us helps us down the road just by gaining confidence. We are now at .500, 4-4, first eight games on the road with a young team and haven’t played in your own building,” Foreman said. “So to be where we are at it’s a sign that these kids are working hard and buying into what we are doing.”

The Broncos hosted No. 13 Norman last night for the first home game of the season but results weren’t available until after the paper went to press. The Broncos will host Southmoore on Friday night at the Mustang Event Center.

“We will continue to plug away. We have a week full of games today, Tuesday and Friday but, we are getting better,” Foreman said.