Mustangs move up in district standings after win

HALLETTSVILLE — The Nixon-Smiley Mustangs got a much-needed win on Tuesday, knocking off the Hallettsville Brahmas to take sole possession of fourth place in the hotly contested District-27-3A standings.

With two games to go, the Mustangs are still fighting to clinch a playoff spot. Needing all the wins they can get, the boys’ team overwhelmed the Brahmas with their rebounding and defense.

“We know we have the capabilities of being a really good basketball team,” Nixon-Smiley head coach Carlton McKinney said. “I think the games that we lost, we just weren’t able to finish, but so much of that are the details, the little things. If we took care of the details, we can put ourselves in a position to win. Of course, I didn’t expect this type of victory, but I knew we had a shot to win at the end. All credits to the kids and the coaching staff, my assistants did a really good job of preparing these kids and the kids came in ready to play and they did a great job.”

Tied at 8-8 to start the second quarter, Nixon-Smiley ran off an 10-2 run before the Brahmas were able to cut into the lead. The Mustangs were forced to play zone instead of man due to their early foul trouble. But even with the zone defense, the Mustangs didn’t allow very many second and third-chance shots.

“This blueprint is going to be what we have to do,” McKinney said. “We have to be smart on the offense, defensively we got to stay in front of people.”

“That’s just the formula we’re going to have to play with moving forward,” he continued. “We got Schulenburg coming in on Friday which is going to be a difficult task as well. It’s a great win but we put ourselves in a position where every win, every game is necessary for us to take care of.”

The Mustangs reached deep in their bench as starters accumulated fouls. Even then, after the Mustangs took that lead in the second, the bench players were able to keep the lead and even extended it, ending the third quarter with a 14-6 advantage and the fourth with a 10-2 run.

“We’ve been trying to prepare these kids,” McKinney explained. “They haven’t got as much time as they all wanted. But they’ve shown up every day and they work hard and it was huge today. A kid like a Daniel Rodriguez or Jason Yell, those guys that don’t play a ton of minutes came in some critical moments. You know, Rodrigo Acevedo, they were huge contributors to tonight’s victory.”

The trio mentioned combined for 11 points, though their contributions on defense were key as well.

Meanwhile, Jordan Van Auken led the team in scoring with 16 points. Treon Fatheree and Jordan Lopez had eight each.

With the win, the Mustangs have put themselves in position to climb up to third place, though they finish their district with the top teams. Tonight, Nixon-Smiley takes on Schulenburg (11-1) at home, with tipoff set at 8 p.m. On Tuesday they travel to Universal City to take on Randolph (11-1).

Managing fatigue is going to be key for the Mustangs. Although they have bench players that can contribute, the team’s fatigue has led to simple mistakes that they can’t afford against the top two teams in district.

“It’s a working progress with these kids,” McKinney said. “They get to playing well and they want to continue to do that, it’s just a matter of getting them under control and understanding that it’s the simple plays that win basketball plays, not the great plays. If we continue to do that I think we’ll be OK.”

Marion (8-4) finishes their season taking on UC Randolph (11-1) tonight and Luling (3-9) on Tuesday

Hallettsville (6-6) plays Stockdale (1-11) tonight and Schulenburg (11-1) on Tuesday.