Coming into the annual event at Southport, both Greenfield Central and Southport were coming off late Friday night games. With Greenfield Central topping New Palestine and Southport falling to Bloomington South.
As the early 12:30 time slot, it would be reasonable to assume the offense would be left on the buses for both teams. However, that would be far from the truth. The Cardinals won the tip and immediately began to utilize the lack of a shot clock, keeping the ball on the perimeter to find a soft spot in the zone.
Once they found that zone, they did not look back. Swinging the rock around the perimeter until they found an open shot, shooting an impressive 75% from deep in the opening quarter. Their early lead would soon disappear as junior guard Braylon Mullins would erupt in the second quarter, ending the half with 22 points including a half court heave to carry momentum into the second half.
Up seven at halftime, the Cougars would continue to pull away behind the impressive shooting of Mullins, including a half court heave to carry momentum into the locker room
“When they were shooting free throws, I told them to inbound it to Boston [Willard],” said Mullins. “No one was doing that, so I just grabbed the ball and shot it as high as I could.”
Throughout the third quarter, the Southport offense would stagnate as the Cougars extended their lead to 51-38 entering the final stanza.
Despite the added emphasis on Mullins, the junior would show why he is one of the states most highly touted recruits finishing the game with 31 points and seven rebounds.
Despite the 1-4 record, Southport looked more capable than a team with that record normally appears. They have an electric guard trio of Michael Johnson, Christian Webster and Nilyn Compton that can each shoot out the gym.
The youngest on the Cardinal squad, sophomore James Kalala, is a name to keep in mind in the 2026 recruiting class. At 6’ 7”, the forward is hyper athletic and is a force on the offensive boards, grabbing seven of his 11 rebounds on that end. Although he plays most of his minutes at the center position, his quick twitch and athleticism will be able to translate to the small forward or power forward position at the next level.
The Cougars now move to 5-0 and look like a 4A dark horse behind the talent of Mullins and capable scoring with forwards Braden Robertson and Dallas Freeman who finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
“Coming off a big win last night, a rivalry game, that felt good,” said Mullins. “Coming into this morning, we were not really locked in. We went down 14-10 at the end of the first, [in the second quarter] we were able to show what we were capable of.”
When you are a four star basketball player averaging 25 points a night, you are going to be getting plenty of defensive attention.
“Going into these games, I just got to stay locked in,” said Mullins. “I know teams will try to take me away, but I just got to do what I do. If I can score 25-30 points a night I think we can win a lot of games.”