Mustangs avenge loss, move to first

NIXON — What a difference just a few weeks make.

After taking a road loss against the then district-leading Goliad Tigers on Jan. 15, the Nixon-Smiley Mustangs avenged their loss Friday night, taking down the Tigers 70-56 in what Mustangs’ head coach Carlton McKinney deemed a total team effort.

“The biggest thing was the kids competed,” he said after the win. “We competed every possession and when you do that I like our chances against anybody. We made plays when we had to but the biggest thing is we had contributions from everyone tonight and that’s huge for us.”

Sam Moore led the team with 26 points, with Jordan Van Auken getting 14 and Rodrigo Acevedo adding 10.

“Sam played well because he usually always does but with him just playing well, that doesn’t get the game won,” McKinney explained. “We have guys come off the bench, we have other starters, Jordan Van Auken late knocking down all those free throws, being able to step up to the line, kids getting rebound after rebound after rebound, things that we didn’t do in Goliad we did tonight and now the whole purpose is to try to sustain it moving forward.”

The win moves the Mustangs to 9-1 in district with two games to go while the Tigers drop to 8-1 with three games to go. McKinney explained that he and the kids used this game as an example of things to come in the playoffs.

“What I told the kids is not only was tonight basically a district championship game, it’s a playoff atmosphere game where we got to play every possession regardless of what the score is whether we’re up or we’re down,” he said. “If we’re going to play hard every possession, we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity and that’s what we did. “

After Goliad took an 8-4 lead late in the first, Moore found Acevedo down low for a bucket then scored two straight three-pointers to fuel an 8-2 run to end the first up 12-10. Jose Melendez then was added to the mix as the big man helped on both ends of the court, getting rebounds, playing defense and even scoring on a few post moves to help the Mustangs increase their lead in the second.

“We have always thought that [Melendez] had an opportunity to really help us,” McKinney said. “He’s a kid that he’s just figured out his game and he played well night. He’s played well the last couple of days to be honest with you. He’s been a little bit more focused and a little bit more in tuned into what we’re doing. But that’s exactly what he can do. He’s a big kid but he’s nibble on his feet and he’s got a good touch and he plays hard. When he does that we can do what we did tonight.”

Melendez would end his night with seven points.

Moore continued his dominance in third quarter as the Mustang used his quickness to easily break Goliad’s full-court press. Moore found ways to get his teammates open, getting an assist off a Van Auken bucket. Meanwhile the senior guard would ended his 17-point quarter with a deep three from way beyond the arc as the clock ran out to give the Mustangs the 53-42 lead.

Goliad was then forced to foul as the Mustangs took their time with their offensive possessions. With 1:46 left in the game, the Tigers began to foul Van Auken as Nixon-Smiley lead 57-48. Van Auken would go 12-of-14 from the free-throw line while Goliad tried trading threes for twos at the end of the game, but it wasn’t enough as the Mustangs ended the game with a 70-56 win.

“Jordan stepped up huge tonight,” McKinney noted. “He made free throws down the stretch which is huge for us because they’re a good basketball team. We were trading two for three but we had a little cushion to do that and that was the whole plan was to make sure they had to work for every shot and they did and they hit them.”

One of the biggest keys for the Mustangs in their 14-point win was their ability to play defense as well as rebound.

“At their place they got second, third, fourth opportunities all night long,” McKinney recalled. “Tonight maybe twice that happened where we were the one with second, third, fourth opportunities. I tell our kids all the time it’s just a matter of effort. If we go and we compete and were the aggressor, size has very little to do with the rebounding factor if you’re going to be the aggressor and that’s what we were tonight, we were the aggressors and we didn’t allow them to get in that comfort zone like they did in their place. We kept them on edge a little bit and it worked in our favor tonight.”

Now on top of the district, the Mustangs have two more games to maintain this lead.

“The biggest thing is consistency,” McKinney warned. “We just continued to play, continued to play and we never took our foot off the gas pedal, so to speak, and we’ve done that in the past but tonight we didn’t do it and that’s what we got to use moving forward.”

Nixon-Smiley travel tonight to take on Bloomington with tipoff scheduled at 8 p.m.