On Saturday evening, the McCracken County Mustangs returned to the floor at Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena, taking on the Legion Prep Bulldogs out of Dallas, Texas at Mustang Madness. Another night for the Mustangs with 10 or more made three-pointers, McCracken made it three wins in a row by a final score of 63-10.
Leading the way from beyond the arch, Dylan Jackson shows out for the Mustangs, finishing with 21 points and six three-pointers. Owen Grogan and Garrett Miller each cracked double digits as well, picking up 12 and 10 respectively, while Aaron Adams finished with nine.
"We have to continue to shoot well going forward, just keep making our shots. Everything was easier for us tonight when we're making the shots we're supposed to," McCracken County head coach Dustin Roberts said on the Mustangs' shooting performance. "Dylan's had a great year of shooting the ball, he's about 45% from three, and he came out extra hot tonight. The guys did a great job of getting him the ball in good spots for him to catch and shoot, and he did a great job with that."
The Mustangs quickly found themselves working from behind in the first, as Legion were able to create open looks from the outside, jumping out to an 8-3 lead. The Bulldogs were able to stay a step ahead throughout the middle minutes of the first, leading by as much as eight with a 13-5 advantage. However, McCracken were able to close off the perimeter late in the quarter, holding Legion quiet as Miller and Jackson combined for a 10-point swing to close to quarter, taking a 15-13 lead in the final seconds.
Flipping the game on its head, the Mustangs heated up from three-point range early in the second, with Jackson, Miller, Grogan and Adams each knocking one down in the first four minutes. Now working with a multi-possession lead, Jackson took over for McCracken down the stretch, putting up another nine points from behind the arch, giving the Mustangs a 39-31 lead to take back to the locker rooms.
"I thought the guys really responded well to them really throwing the first punch in this game," Roberts said. "We made some adjustments after that, they had a 6'9" kid that was giving us issues so we tried to slow him down a bit. We're proud of how we came out after that."
Turning away from the three-point shot, Legion worked down low to much success early in the third, opening the half with a 10-3 run. With their lead cut to just one, the Mustangs tightened up defensively, allowing just three further points in the quarter. Picking up nine points of their own to effectively erase the Bulldogs’ strong start, McCracken headed into the fourth up 51-44.
Five early points between Maxx Tanner and Jace Dawson put the Mustang lead back into double digits shortly into the fourth, as they looked to put the Bulldogs in the rear view mirror. Through the final minutes, the Mustangs kept held of their lead, closing the door on a 63-50 victory.
"I think our guys have really turned a corner here lately," Roberts said. "I hope we continue to do so, we've got a tough schedule coming up here, but the guys seem to be responding and playing a whole lot better than we were to start."