Twice this season, Manitou Springs girls basketball coach Jessie Nunley has told her team that a loss would end the season. Twice, the Mustangs have gone out and won those must-win games to keep their season alive.
She’s hoping the mojo doesn’t stop working as Manitou enters the Class 3A girls basketball state tournament as the No. 28 seed and will head to Lutheran in Parker, where they’ll face the Lions on Friday, March 4.
“Preparation and ‘back against the wall’ kind of basketball is where we’ve thrived,” Nunley said. “We’ve had nothing but time to prepare for that situation all week.”
The Mustangs lost two of their three bracket games, but they would not have even made the full Tri-Peaks district bracket without a 57-51 win over La Junta on Feb. 19. That win gave them the three additional games they needed to establish a full RPI sample, which kept them in the top 32 in the state.
In the Feb. 22 quarterfinals, they held a six-point lead late against St. Mary’s, but the Pirates battled back to get the 54-45 win, putting the Mustangs (10-13 overall) into the consolation side of the bracket.
Lexi Vigil led the way in that loss with 14 points, while Sami Benge-Kulzer had one of her best performances of the year and scored 13.
On Feb. 25, Manitou surrendered an early lead to Buena Vista and fell 34-27 in the consolation semifinals, putting them into the seventh-place game against Salida, a team that had beaten the Mustangs earlier in the year.
The Mustangs put together a solid performance to get the 32-16 win, which arguably saved their season as they teetered on the low end of the RPI heading into that game.
Now they have to try to survive in a true lose-and-go-home situation. Looking back at the past couple of weeks, they’re going to take the lessons they learned from getting crucial wins and apply them to Friday’s showdown with Lutheran.
“It needs to be individual (efforts), but as a team as well,” Benge-Kulzer said. “Basketball is a team sport but as an individual you can only do so much.”
Several years ago, the Mustangs were regular participants in the Lutheran Tournament toward the beginning of the year and faced the Lions on numerous occasions. Familiarity with that program as well as having four-year varsity starters like Vigil and Abby Parker gives hope to Nunley that her team can do something special this weekend.
“That can always lead to an upset and that’s what we just got done talking about,” Nunley said. “It’s really an opportunity for kids to step up into their roles and really thrive and shine in this big game.”
Should the Mustangs defeat Lutheran, they would meet the winner of St. Mary’s and Skyview Academy. The Pirates are the No. 12 seed so if they avoid getting upset, it could set up a third showdown with the Mustangs. St. Mary’s won the previous two, but Manitou played both games very tough, which is exactly how they need to play for the rest of this season.