Basketball Recap: Cherokee Trail Falls Short Against Ranked Mullen

On Saturday, Cherokee Trail faced Mullen in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Cherokee Trail Cougars fell 58-45 to the Mullen Mustangs. The Cougars were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Mustangs earlier this season, when they won 39-33.

Ava Pelaez

Points (Career)

02/22/25 vs Mullen	15
02/09/24 vs Smoky Hill	12
01/19/24 @ Smoky Hill	10
01/22/25 vs Arapahoe	9
11/29/23 vs Pueblo West	9

Cherokee Trail's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ava Pelaez, who went 6-for-8 on her way to 15 points. The dominant performance gave Pelaez a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Delainey Miller, who posted seven points in addition to five assists and five rebounds.

Leading Mullen to victory were Tatum Jones and Makenzie Jones. Tatum went 9-for-15 en route to 25 points and six boards, while Makenzie went 8-for-13 to rack up 23 points and six rebounds. With that strong performance, Makenzie is now averaging an impressive 15.3 points per game.

This is the second loss in a row for Cherokee Trail and nudges their season record down to 14-9. As for Mullen, their record now sits at an identical 14-9.

Coming up, Cherokee Trail will face off against Mountain Vista at 4:00 p.m. on March 1st. Cherokee Trail is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.8 points per game this season. Mullen does not have any more games scheduled as of now.