By Brendan Hoover
Managing Editor
CHOCTAW – During games, before shooting free throws, David Glidden and Tanner Bridges sing to each other.
The ritual calms the players, helping them sink their bonus shots.
Those tunes must have sounded especially sweet Friday night.
Glidden hit 5-of-6 free throws in overtime, and Zach Grismer scored four of his game-high 24 points in the extra period as Mustang High School’s varsity boys basketball team defeated Lawton Eisenhower in the Class 6A West area tournament Friday night, 60-54.
With the victory, the 14th-ranked Broncos drew one game away from a state tournament berth.
“It’s a great win for us. We couldn’t be happier,” said Glidden, who finished with 11 points.
Mustang (11-14) advanced to face top-ranked Edmond Santa Fe in the area championship game, who lost to fifth-ranked Midwest City in the early game Friday, 59-53.
The area championship will be played Saturday at 8 p.m. at Choctaw High School.
“It’s huge for this program,” Bridges said of Friday's win. “It’s just a big honor.”
MHS looked like it would cruise into the area finals. The Broncos led by eight points with five minutes to play, but the Eagles made a final push to force overtime.
Zach Brown hit a 3-pointer with 3:44 left in regulation, highlighting an 11-0 Lawton Ike run that gave the Eagles their first lead since the second quarter.
Grismer made the front end of a 1-and-1 situation, and Glidden returned from an ankle injury to score a driving basket with 50 seconds left to tie the game at 47.
Ike played for the last shot, and Beau Harrington got to the line with a chance to give his team the lead. He missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 9.1 seconds left, and Grismer pulled down the board. He passed the ball to Glidden, whose turnaround jumper at the buzzer missed the mark.
In overtime, Grismer hit two baskets down low on feeds from Jacinto Biorato and Glidden, and MHS took a 51-50 lead. Then Biorato took a steal the other way for a layup, and Glidden hit two free throws to give MHS a four-point lead.
Glidden drove for a basket with 59 seconds left in the extra period, and he hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“It used to be ‘Pants on the Ground,’” Glidden said of the song he and Bridges sing. “We kind of switched it up, and I think we’re going to keep that one between me and him. It seemed to work for us tonight.”
Lawton Ike went on a 9-0 run to start the game. Turnovers and cold shooting spelled a rough start for the Broncos. Glidden scored four points to get MHS within four at the end of one period, 11-7.
Robert Shaw completed a 3-point play midway through the second quarter to tie the game at 14.
Then Grismer went to work, feasting on a steady diet of down-low feeds from his teammates. He scored 11 second-quarter points to help MHS to a 24-23 halftime lead.
“My teammates drove the court and they dished and I got easy layups. I found the open spots and I cut to the hoop and they found me,” Grismer said.
Shaw scored two baskets early in the third quarter, and Alex Moses hit Mustang’s only 3-pointer of the night to give MHS a 37-31 lead. Grismer added two baskets – on assists from Bridges and Glidden – to lift Mustang to a 41-34 lead at the end of three quarters.
Grismer’s basket with 5:16 to play gave Mustang a 44-36 lead.
Shaw finished with 12 points, and Bridges and Biorato both scored four points. Jacob Strassle scored two points to go with some big rebounds. MHS shot 10-of-18 from the free throw line.
Brown led Ike with 18 points, and Dominique scored 15 points. The Eagles ended their season at 14-12.