Mullan wins thriller and state berth
When a fan on hand for the second-place game of the 1A District I called it the most exciting basketball game he’s ever seen, he may have been exaggerating, but not much.
After all was said and done at Lakeland High School, Mullan came out on top of Clark Fork 41-39 to earn a berth in the 1A state tournament. The Tigers (15-7) open state play Wednesday at 1 p.m. PST at Caldwell High against Mackay (18-3), who Saturday advanced with a 38-20 play-in victory over North Gem (4-16).
“What a game – we knew they were going to come after us,” said Tigers senior forward Jesse James, who led all scorers with 17 points. “But we just stuck to our game plan, came out and executed our plays and played as a team and that’s where it got us.
“We’re pretty good at maintaining our composure, and Coach told us over and over to maintain it, and we did, and we came out on top.”
The teams battled back and forth in a first half that featured eight lead changes – two on the last two possessions, and Clark Fork led 23-22 at the break.
The Wampus Cats would lead by as many as five twice in the second half – once midway through the third quarter and again at the beginning of the fourth.
But down three with 3 minutes to play, Mullan senior post Cody Pehan nailed an off-balance, flat-footed, line-drive 3-pointer to knot the game for the fifth and final time at 38-38.
“I just caught it and shot it,” said Pehan, who finished with 12 points and four rebounds. “Anybody else on our team would have done the same thing.”
But the effect was huge, as the Tigers seemed to steal momentum at the most critical juncture.
James gave Mullan a 39-38 lead at the 1:28 mark, hitting the second of two free throws from a foul that sent Clark Fork’s leading scorer, Tyler Broggi, to the bench with five.
With the score 40-39 and 10 seconds left, Tigers senior Joe Ploharz missed both ends of a double bonus and James was whistled for a foul on the rebound, sending Cats senior Bill Clayton to the line for a chance to take the lead with 9 seconds left.
Clayton missed both, and teammate Brian Young grabbed the rebound but was called for traveling as he fell to the floor.
Clark Fork was forced to foul, and James hit the first of two free throws with 2 seconds left. Cats sophomore Drew Wilkinson grabbed the rebound of James’ miss on the second shot, but was unable to get off a three-quarter-court shot before the buzzer sounded.
“Two pretty evenly matched teams,” Mullan coach Bruce Bailey said of the contest. “Big, physical football players playing basketball.
“I was really pleased with our composure. We needed to hit our free throws to win this basketball game, because they’re a good basketball team.”
Clark Fork coach Brian Powell said he could find no fault with his team’s effort.
“We played hard, just like we have all year, and Mullan did, too,” Powell said. “Those are the kind of games that can go either way.
“We make a couple of free throws at the end of the game, and maybe it’s a different scenario.”
Tyler Broggi led the way with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Wampus Cats, who finish the season 12-12.