GREENFIELD — It was the Greenfield-Central Cougars’ night, in particular it was 6-5 junior guard Braylon Mullins’ night.
Ranked No. 8 in both the Class 4A Associated Press poll and the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (all classifications) ratings, Greenfield-Central led from start to finish to defeat Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Mt. Vernon 64-51 at Dellen Automotive Gymnasium Friday.
It was the Cougars 29th straight regular-season win and first time since 2010-11 they had beat county and conference rivals New Palestine and Mt. Vernon in the same season. G-C beat New Palestine 58-54 on Dec. 8.
Greenfield-Central increased its school-record best start to 11 straight wins and improved to 3-0 in the HHC, while handing the Marauders their first conference loss.
Mt. Vernon dropped to 6-6 overall and 3-1 in the HHC.
Mullins, a Division I prospect already with numerous NCAA Division I schools, scored 39 points. He hit 11 of 20 field-goal attempts (55 percent) and was 14 of 14 from the free-throw line. He had 22 points in the second half.
“He had one heckuva night, hats off to him,” Mt. Vernon coach Joe Bradburn said.
In his 26th year as a head coach, Bradburn added that Mullins’ 39 points, to his recollection, were the most scored against any of his teams.
“We couldn’t guard him and he broke down our defensive principles,” Bradburn said. “Our guys went away from things we teach and had been doing all year long. He attacked us in a different way and he showed he’s a D-I kid.”
Drives to the bucket, 3-point shots and teammates getting him the ball in great scoring position, Mullins scored numerous ways, including his 100 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
“What else can you say?” Greenfield-Central coach Luke Meredith said of Mullins. “He’s a great kid, great player and deserves all the credit.
“What makes Braylon special, he’ll get doubled and see over the top and make a skip pass to Dallas Freeman who hits a big 3. That’s kind of who he is. He doesn’t force anything, ever. He always takes care of the ball and he always makes the right play. When the ball is in his hands I think great things are always going to happen.
“We go 1-4 low, you gotta double (him). You’re going to leave somebody else that can stick a shot, that’s what makes us so difficult to defend this year.”
As much as Mullins did tonight it was another teammate that can ‘stick a shot’ that got them off to a great start.
Boston Willard, the 5-10 junior guard, went 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first quarter. The second trey gave his club an 8-0 lead.
Mt. Vernon did not score until a pair of R’mani Wells free throws at the 5:06 mark of the period. A 6-0 Mt. Vernon run cut it to 10-8 with 2:06 left. Julien Smith, Wells and Tanner Teschendorf each had buckets. Greenfield-Central grew its lead to 13-8 on Willard’s third trey.
The second quarter belonged to Mullins. The highly sought-after guard had 11 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter.
G-C needed every one of them to maintain a halftime lead.
The Cougars led by nine, 20-11, early in the period.
Off the bench, Mt. Vernon sophomore guard Elijah Parra immediately made a difference. Just seconds into the game, he hit a 3-pointer. His second trey made it 20-17 with 4:07 left until the break. Two Smith free throws got Mt. Vernon within one, 20-19.
Mullins followed with the next five points and had nine of his 11 second-quarter points after Mt. Vernon got his club’s lead down to one. Most of them came at the free-throw line. He was 8-for-8 at the stripe and added a 3-pointer.
It was 25-22 with 1:37 remaining when Mt. Vernon fouled to put the Cougars in the bonus. G-C hit 6 of 6 at the stripe to close the half, four from Mullins and two from Braden Robertson.
For the game, Greenfield-Central made all 18 of its free-throw attempts.
Mullins hit a 3-pointer just seconds into the second half and had 14 of G-C’s 18 third-quarter points. The lead grew to as much as 15 in the period when Mullins finished off the quarter the way he started it. He hit a 3 to bump his team’s lead to 49-34 with just 11 seconds left on the clock. The Cougars led by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter.
For the Cougars, Willard added 11 points. Freeman and Robertson scored six apiece. The Cougars hit eight treys. Willard and Mullins each had three and Freeman had two.
Smith and Wells led Mt. Vernon with 15 each. Teschendorf had 10.
Greenfield-Central 64, Mt. Vernon 51
Mt. Vernon;10;16;10;15;—;51
Greenfield-Central;15;16;18;15;—64
Mt. Vernon (6-6, 3-1): Julien Smith 4 5-6 15, Aden Daugherty 1 0-0 2, Brady Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Tanner Teschendorf 4 2-4 10, R’mani Wells 5 4-6 15, Elijah Parra 3 0-0 8, Tyler Davis 0 1-4 1, Ryker Baer 0 0-0 0, Charlie Cross 0 0-0 0, Jack Guerre 0 0-0 0, Max Vise 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 12-20 51.
Greenfield-Central (11-0, 3-0): Boston Willard 4 0-0 11, Braylon Mullins 11 14-14 39, Jake Hinton 0 2-2 2, Dallas Freeman 2 0-0 6, Braden Robertson 2 2-2 6, Cooper Robertson 0 0-0 0, Brady Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 18-18 64.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 5 (Smith 2, Parra 2, Wells); Greenfield-Central 8 (Willard 3, Mullins 3, Freeman 2).
