MHS - Men's Basketball / January 24, 2021 By Kasey McDowell
The Mulvane men's basketball team participated in the 50th annual Roadrunner Classic last week. The Cats tore through their opponents with 3 wins by a margin of 53 points (191-138 combined scores), improved to 11-0 on the season, and brought home the tournament championship trophy, the first time since 2012 when the Wildcats led by Ty Redington brought home the trophy. The Wildcat's 11-0 start of the season matches the best start since the 1954-55 season.
The Cats were slated to play Conway Springs in the first game but they had to drop due to a positive on their team, so Chaparral scrambled to pick up a team and the Cats traveled to Lyndon KS for a battle with the #2 ranked team in the state in 2A. The Cats went into halftime with a 9 point lead 31-22 and held Lyndon at bay in the second half for the 63-52 win. Trey Abasolo (Sr.) led the Wildcats in points and rebounds with 19 and 8. Kaiden Abasolo (Fr.) and Landon Coe (Jr.) also broke into double digits with 16 points and 13 points respectively.
VAR 1 2 3 4 Final
MHS 13 18 22 10 63
LHS 11 11 16 14 52
* Trey Abasolo - 19 pts, 8 reb
* Kaiden Abasolo - 16 pts, 6 reb
* Landon Coe - 13 pts, 4 reb
* Mason Ellis - 8 pts, 2 reb
* Ian Comer - 6 pts, 7 reb
* Canon Smith - 1 pt, 3 reb
The Wildcat's second game of the tournament was against the Circle Thunderbirds. The Cats jumped out to an early 19-9 lead in the first quarter increased their lead to 40-21 at halftime.
The Wildcats had four players in double digits scoring with Trey Abasolo (Sr.) leading the charge with 16 points, Mason Ellis (Jr.) had a strong game with 14 points, Ian Comer (Jr.) had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Kaiden Abasolo (Fr.) finished with 13 points on the evening.
VAR 1 2 3 4 Final
MHS 19 21 17 18 75
CHS 9 12 10 24 55
* Trey Abasolo - 16 pts, 7 reb
* Mason Ellis - 14 pts, 4 reb
* Ian Comer - 13 pts, 11 reb
* Kaiden Abasolo - 13 pts, 4 reb
* Landon Coe - 8 pts, 4 reb
* Aaron Ballinger - 5 pts, 0 reb
* Canon Smith - 2 pts, 4 reb
* Tab Creekmore - 2 pts, 0 reb
* Jordan Coe - 2 pts, 0 reb
The Cats went into the championship game against the Ark City Bulldogs with all the momentum and confidence and their defense shut down the Bulldogs in the first half, holding them to only 8 points in the first quarter and held them to 0 points in the second quarter, a feat rarely seen in varsity boys basketball. The Wildcats finished the game with a 53-31 win and brought home the trophy behind a 25 point effort by Trey Abasolo (Sr.), 13 points by Ian Comer (Jr.), and 10 points by Mason Ellis (Jr.).
VAR 1 2 3 4 Final
MHS 16 11 11 15 53
ACHS 8 0 10 13 31
* Trey Abasolo - 25 pts, 5 reb
* Ian Comer - 13 pts, 8 reb
* Mason Ellis - 10 pts, 5 reb
* Canon Smith - 2 pts, 2 reb
* Landon Coe - 2 pts, 2 reb
* Aaron Ballinger - 1 pt, 0 reb
* Tab Creekmore - 0 pts, 2 reb
* Kaiden Abasolo - 0 pts, 2 reb
Trey, Ian, and Mason were selected to the Roadrunner Classic All-Tournament team. Trey finished the tournament with 60 points and 20 rebounds. Ian finished the tournament with 32 points and 26 rebounds. Mason finished the tournament with 32 points and 11 rebounds.
The Wildcats will travel to Wichita Collegiate tonight for a makeup game that was postponed from earlier this season with the C-Team game starting at 4:15, JV at 5:45, and Varsity at 7:30. All games will be streamed on the NFHS Network.
