On Saturday, the McCracken County Mustangs continued to show why they are still a threat in the First Region with an 83-62 victory over the visiting Charleston, MO, Bluejays in the second game of Mustang Madness at Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena.
“Charleston is a tradition-rich school with a good basketball team. This year, maybe not as good as they have been in the past, and thought our guys, for the most part, came out and took care of business, as they should have,” McCracken County head coach Dustin Roberts said. “There were some things in the first half where we were reluctant to slide over and take charge of (Ko’terrion) Owens. He’s a good player. In the second half, I thought our guys did that, and we didn’t get a couple of calls on it, but our guys did the right thing and were in the right spot.”
The last matchup between the two programs came on December 3, 2022, at Marshall County’s Hoopfest. The double overtime content is etched in the hearts of McCracken County faithful as former Mustangs Ian Hart fired a full-court pass to Jack McCune with less than a second left to play, who finished with a buzzer-beating fadeaway to send the game into the double overtime at Reed Conder Gymnasium. McCracken County went on to win with a 76-72 finish.
Ko’terrion Owens led all scorers in Saturday’s contest with 31 points. Behind Owens was McCracken County’s Connor Miller, who posted 24 in the Mustang win. Jackson Klope, Grayson Parish, and Dylan Jackson also finished double-digit scoring for McCracken County—Klope with 14, Parish with 13, and Jackson with 11.
The Mustangs opened up scoring and quickly moved ahead of the Bluejays, outscoring 16-9 in the first quarter. The scoring for McCracken County came from all hands on deck courtesy of Miller, Jackson, Klope, and Parish. Scoring for Charleston came from Zachyran Thomas, Treshaun Schandon, and Owens.
Despite the Mustangs often finding themselves in trouble at the charity stripe, the team finished at 89% and made eight free throws on nine attempts. Six of the eight successful shots came from Miller, who went 4-for-4 in the first quarter.
The Mustangs continued to control the pace of the contest in the second quarter as the team pushed ahead, with Miller reaching the 20-point mark before halftime. As McCracken County outscored Charleston by nine, the Bluejays, despite having the foundation to compete, began to falter against the pressure of the Mustangs. By halftime, McCracken County held a 37-21 lead.
The contest remained in favor of McCracken County throughout the second half as the Mustangs led by 25 points at the end of the third quarter with threes from the young standouts Jay Martin and Caden Fulcher and field goals from Miller, Jackson, Klope, and Parish. Although the Bluejays outscored the Mustangs in the fourth quarter, McCracken County continued to hold the lead, finishing with a 21-point victory.
OTHER SCORES FROM MUSTANG MADNESS
St. Xavier 82, Butler County 79
Memphis East (TN) 70, Ballard 69 (OT)
UP NEXT: The McCracken County Mustangs will face Calloway County on Tuesday in a doubleheader. The Mustangs will host Christian County on January 15 and Carlisle County on January 16 at Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 83, CHARLESTON (MO) 62
CHAR 9 12 19 22 — 62
MCHS 16 21 28 18 — 83
CHAR: K. Owens 31, Z. Thomas 9, T. Schandon 7, T. Clark 6, D. Henderson 4, S. Henderson 3, O. Willis 2. FIELD GOALS: 23 (K. Owens 11, Z. Thomas 4, T. Schandon 2, D. Henderson 2, T. Clark 2, S. Henderson, O. Willis). 3-POINT FG: 2 (T. Clark, T. Schandon). FREE THROWS: 11/16. RECORD: 8-6.
MCHS: C. Miller 24, J. Klope 14, G. Parish 13, D. Jackson 11, C. Fulcher 9, J. Martin 8, J. Diaz 2, J. Dawson 2. FIELD GOALS: 27/46 (J. Klope 7, C. Miller 6, G. Parish 6, D. Jackson 4, C. Fulcher, J. Martin, J. Diaz, J. Dawson). 3-POINT FG: 7/20 (C. Miller 2, C. Fulcher 2, J. Martin 2, D. Jackson). FREE THROWS: 8/9. RECORD: 12-3.