Green Mountain boys basketball wins wild 2nd round playoff game versus Mullen

LAKEWOOD — On paper it was one of the most anticipated second-round games of the Class 5A boys basketball state tournament.

And it lived up to its billing with No. 14-seeded Green Mountain taking a dramatic 60-58 home victory over No. 19 Mullen on Friday night at Green Mountain High School.

“We knew this first one was going to be tough. It was a rough pool, but I knew we had it,” Green Mountain senior Tre Gutierrez said after the massive Rams’ student section stormed the court. “It was a hard game, but we fought.”

Green Mountain — 5A state runner-up a year ago with four returning starters — against Mullen that plays in the always competitive Centennial League before dropping down to the 5A state tournament was a premier match-up in the round of 32.

Mullen took a 56-54 lead with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by senior Kevin Lewis after Green Mountain (19-5) led for the majority of the game. The Mustangs (12-12 record) were up 58-57 with 11 second left in the fourth quarter.

Green Mountain had the ball after a steal and took a timeout to draw up the eventual game-winning basket.

“We put it in last night,” Green Mountain coach Jordan Deignan said of a backdoor cut by junior Sam Mielenz and the feed from senior Ben Swanson. “Everyone runs to the ball and then Sam back cuts. If it is open, it’s open. If it isn’t open you are cooked. We are lucky it got open. The guys did a great job of executing it.”

Mielenz made the layup with 4.4 seconds left to put the Rams up 59-58. 

“I trust the coach (Deignan). He drew it up and I was like, ‘Alright, let’s do it.’ It worked,” Gutierrez said. “He drew it up perfectly. We got it done.”

It wasn’t over yet. Mullen senior Mason Bonner who is headed to play football at the University of Michigan already had 31 points and was clearly the person the Mustangs wanted to get the ball to in the final seconds.

However, Ben Swanson was able to get a hand on the long pass attempt from Mullen senior Nico DePizzol. 

“My team had been helping me the whole game. I had to make up for something,” said Ben Swanson who just had one point on the night, but had the defensive play of the game. “I’ve kind of always been the one to do that. That is why they put me there.”

Ben Swanson grabbed the loose ball and was fouled. Mielenz eventually made 1-of-2 free throws with 1.3 seconds on the clock to make the score 60-58. A last-second in-bound heave by Mullen went out of bounds at the buzzer.

“Mullen is a really good team,” Ben Swanson said. “I’m just glad we came away with the win.”

Mielnez, who went over the 1,000-point career mark early in the first quarter, finished with 21 points. 

“We knew we were going to win this game, but we knew it was going to be tough,” Mielenz said. “It was a tough match-up and stressed us a lot.”

Gutierrez had 15 points and Jake Swanson had 14 points to lead the Rams offensively.

The Mustangs entered the postseason having lost 5-of-6 games, but those losses all came against 6A playoff squads that were top-20 seeds for the 6A tournament. The Rams were one win away from claiming the 5A/4A Jeffco League title, but lost in their regular-season finale against Standley Lake back on Feb. 16.

“The grit and the toughness that our guys showed to bounce back after that Standley Lake loss with 10 days off,” Deignan said. “I can’t speak enough about the toughness this group has. A lot of it is experience with all the senior leadership. Survive and advance to the next one.”

The next one for Green Mountain will be on the road to face No. 3 Severance in the round of 16 on Tuesday, March 3. The Silver Knights (21-3) took care of Pueblo Central with an 81-41 win on Friday night for Severance’s 14th straight victory. 

Green Mountain is trying to mirror its postseason run last season when the Rams made it to the 5A championship game as the No. 16 seed.

“We just have to have that same mentality we had last year and bring it this year,” Gutierrez said of the Rams in a similar position to be a Cinderella story to make a deep playoff run. “We have the skill. We just have to keep the mentality.”