Braylon Mullins scores 39, Greenfield-Central brings the 'juice' vs. rival Mt. Vernon

GREENFIELD – Before Luke Meredith delivered his postgame victory speech Friday night, the Greenfield-Central coach had prep work to do.

Teaming up with his coaching staff to sync his Cougars’ unofficial theme song to Bluetooth before zipping out of his office with a portable speaker in tow wheeling behind him, Meredith walked into the G-C locker room like a WWE superstar.

Unbeaten through 10 games prior to tip-off, the Class 4A eighth-ranked Cougars made it a clean 11-0 by defeating Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Mt. Vernon, 64-51.

And they were ready to celebrate as soon as rapper Key Glock hit the first verse.

“It’s the Juicemane,” Meredith explained minutes after his players doused him with water bottles. “It’s, ‘I got the Juicemane.’”

“Juice,” is more than a word for the Cougars. It’s a philosophy emphasized by the phrase, “If you’re juiceless, you’re useless. If you’re juiceful, you’re useful,” painted over the locker room doorway.

“Five years ago, when I got this job, we kind of coined it. We’ve been made fun of a lot every time we lose. Everybody talks about juice this, where’s this, where’s that? But it’s just an energy within our program. The energy and effort in everything you do,” Meredith said. “The kids believe right now.”

The Cougars are making believers out of many this season and few are laughing, a year after Greenfield-Central won 18 straight contests and set a program record for wins at 21-2.

Friday’s victory was multi-layered for the Cougars, who not only seized sole possession of first in the HHC standings at 3-0 by knocking Mt. Vernon (6-6, 3-1) down a spot. Junior guard Braylon Mullins posted a career-high 39 points to lock down the win by topping his previous single-game high of 31.

Mullins shot 11-of-20 from the field, buried a trio of 3-pointers and converted 14-of-14 free throws to reach 930 career points through 57 games played.

Mullins brought the juice despite his team’s eight-day holiday layoff with his sixth 25-plus point performance this season.

“(Juice), it’s energy. It’s what we bring to Greenfield. If people are going to be paying $6, then they’re going to pay $6 to watch us bring some energy to the gym,” Mullins said. “If we don’t play hard, then we’re not going to win, so 11-0. We’ve been playing harder.”

Mullins had 17 points by halftime with the Cougars up 31-26. He reached 20 points with a dagger 3-pointer to open the second half. Greenfield-Central shot 8-of-21 from behind the arc with 3-of-5 coming from junior Boston Willard, who finished with 11 points.

Junior Dallas Freeman and senior Braden Robertson each added six points, while Mullins contributed six rebounds, a blocked shot and three assists.

“He makes my job really easy. There are some plays that he makes that aren’t because of anything we’re doing because of a basketball staff. It’s just because that’s how talented he is, and those players don’t come around very often,” Meredith said.

Mullins’ recruitment is rising recently with interest from Purdue, Indiana, Butler, Notre Dame, among others. He had two offers this past June, but that number elevated after impressing recruiters during summer ball and his AAU season with Indiana Elite.

Even better than his talent, Meredith noted, is Mullins’ desire to be his best in big moments.

“I was challenging Braylon Mullins because (Mt. Vernon’s) Brady Fitzgerald is a heck of a defender, and he held a future Indiana All-Star in Trey Buchanan (of Westfield) to two points on Tuesday night. I kept saying, ‘Brady’s coming,’ and (Braylon) had 39 on him,” Meredith said.

“I know every Friday night I’m going to be talking about whatever I can to fuel these guys, to find that within them, to play hard and be the best version of themselves.”

The Marauders dropped their second straight game after losing at 4A No. 3 Westfield, 41-30, on Tuesday, but sophomores R’Mani Wells and Julien Smith each had a team-high 15 points. Junior Tanner Teschendorf added 10 points and sophomore Elijah Parra had eight.

The Cougars shot a perfect 18-for-18 from the foul line to keep the Marauders from getting any closer than one point late in the second quarter.

“That’s the hard part of this job, keeping them motivated and not letting them believe how good you are and you’re this and that, but heck before Wednesday night’s game, we were picked to lose,” Meredith said.

“It’s got to be mini goals. I always try to bring up little things. Barstool was talking about ‘Choke-field.’ That keeps those guys hungry, and that’s for me, too. I always keep the receipts, and I like it when people talk about me personally because I do make that personal for me. I want them to take it personally, too.”

With the program’s last sectional title (3A in 1998) now 25 years in the rearview, the Cougars are living by the words showcased proudly in the team’s hallway: Juice, Compete, Standard, Chip.

“Being part of Greenfield, it’s a family within itself and having all these people around supporting the team means everything,” Mullins said. “To see the crowd tonight here at home, there were a lot of people. A lot of fans, and they like to see us play, so we’re going to show them why we win.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Braylon Mullins scores career-high 39 vs. Mt. Vernon