SAN MARCOS—Saturday afternoon came down to one game and two teams located less than 30 miles away from each other.
The day before, Milano toppled District 30-2A runner up Falls City, 56-27, in a game where the birds outscored a Beaver team more conditioned for the gridiron 31-10 in the second half.
On that same court less than three hours later, Mumford fought with Freer, who shot their way into overtime with the Mustangs. Mumford narrowly escaped the regional semi-final matchup with a 57-54 victory over the Buckaroos.
Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the two schools couldn’t have been any closer.
The first quarter ended with Milano up 10-8. In the second, the Eagles pulled away to increase their lead by as much as 10 points midway through the quarter. But the Mustangs rallied back, getting their first points of the quarter and outscoring the Eagles 16-6 with four threes to go into halftime tied at 24.
In the third, the two teams continued their tug-of-war with four lead changes and a quarter that ended tied at 36.
In the final quarter, Mumford took an early 45-38 lead that was erased quickly thanks to shots from Jayce Todd and a free throw from Bryson Richards to tie the game at 45 with 2:15 left in regulation. However, a three pointer from Mumford’s Ruben Sustaita and two free throws made by Desmond Gamble was enough to end the Eagles’ season with a 50-45 loss.
“Hats off to Mumford, they did a good job,” Milano coach Lee Essman said. “It’s really hard to simulate what that team does against you defensively in practice, with all the switching and rotations.”
“If you noticed in the game, we were throwing the ball to people that we thought were open, but then they would come,” he added. “I think we hit the panic button sometimes, because we can’t simulate that kind of play and pressure.”
Despite the loss, Essman was very proud of his team, who went from placing fifth in district last year to winning the school’s first district championship since 2012 and making their first regional final appearance since 2013.
“Getting this far, when we were picked fourth in district, is a testament to these guys,” he said. “I’m really proud of them and it’s probably one of my favorite teams that I’ve ever coached.”
Todd led the Eagles with 21 while classmate Ethan Gordon scored 8. Bryson Richards and Mykal Hutson each had 5, Weston Avrett scored 4 and Layne Telg had 3.
This was the final game for Richards, Telg and Avrett. Essman said the three seniors determined the team’s success with their play.
Telg described his journey from starting as a freshman to nearly making the state tournament as a senior.
“It’s crazy because if you look at us two years ago, we went 0-12 and then the year after that, we didn’t make the playoffs to this year making the regional tournament,” Telg said. “It’s indescribable.”
The four-year starter also said the experience of playing with the Eagles was “so much fun.”
KING—Although he was born and raised in Milano, Aubrie King was the coach for Mumford.
“It’s really fun for me, honestly,” King said. “I feel like I don’t have a visitors side because I look up behind me and see Milano fans and think ‘hey, that’s my second grade teacher’, it’s kind of a strange phenomenon.”
King transferred to Mumford when he was in eighth grade, where he eventually made three appearances to the state tournament and won a state championship as a player with the Mustangs in 2014.
Of the four times Milano Eagle basketball has made it to the regional tournament in their school’s history, three of those times were losses to Mumford. King was on two of those teams as a player and now once as a coach.
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