Mustang boys handle business by winning their Mustang Holiday Classic tournament championship
MUSTANG, OKLAHOMA - Jaden Johnson knew the scouting report up and down.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup with Putnam City North, the Mustang sophomore knew what the Panthers were capable of and what they liked to do.
But Johnson, like the rest of his teammates, also knew about a small, but vocal group of Panthers who had been rather boisterous throughout the Mustang Holiday Classic. They had been so aggravating to other teams, MHS coach Scott Hodges included them in the Broncos' scouting report.
Johnson appeared to take that as a challenge and had had a running war of words with the small group. That is until Mustang overwhelmed Putnam City North and pulled away for a 65-31 victory at the Mustang Activities Center for the boys' tournament championship.
“Well, it was on the scouting report that those guys were over there, so I was all ready,” Johnson said. “I was bringing the trash talk to them. I already knew what I was on. I was telling them about it.”
That type of intensity was a trait the entire Mustang squad came out with when they hit the floor Saturday and never let up. After losing to the same team in last year’s tournament finale, they wanted to make sure there was no repeat in the works.
“They beat us on our home court last year, so we kind of had that feeling and I feel like we all played with a chip on our shoulder,” said Mustang's Roman Miller, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. “I feel like we came out and showed that and beat them by (more than) 30.”
The tournament championship is the second for the Mustang program since it started in 2018. The first came in 2021.
However, after losing out in 2022, the Broncos felt an extra boost to get the hardware back in their trophy case.
Mustang players celebrate after the Broncos claimed the boys championship of their Mustang Holiday Classic on Dec. 30, 2023.
“We had played PC North once already and seen them in the tournament. We knew that the (Anthony) Leonard kid and the (Khai) Brown kid are really skilled offensively, and we knew we had to start on the defensive end,” Hodges said. “That was impressive defense to hold them to 31 points and it feels good, man.
"We just clicked and did what we needed to do to win and so hopefully, we can build on it. But winning a tournament on your home court is pretty cool."
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Mustang dominated on the boards, 44-21. The Broncos also forced the Panthers into 19 turnovers and forced them to shoot 25 percent from the field. That includes just 4-of-18 from behind the arc.
Leonard and Brown combined to score 21 points on 7-of-25 shooting. The rest of the team tallied a combined 10 points.
Miller led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting. He also hauled in seven rebounds (four offensively), along with dishing out three assists, two blocks and two steals.
“I just wanted to bounce back from Friday (in the semifinal round),” Miller said. “I probably had six turnovers and 13 points. So I needed to bounce back and get a good team win and help my teammates out.”
Jaden Johnson scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while his twin brother Jaytee posted 11 points to help secure the championship.
“It's where it needs to be, man. I mean that's the good thing about having a tournament and hosting a tournament is you get to play three games on your home court and they're not three easy games,” Hodges said. “But it just means a lot to win it on our home court. It's fun.”
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
