A drop down from Class 6A has the Mullen girls basketball program back to its championship-worthy ways.

The sixth-seeded Mustangs put it all on the line — literally — to carry them to a 44-30 victory over No. 2 Mead in the 5A Final Four inside Denver Coliseum.

The Mustangs made a cool 18 of 24 free throws throughout the night to lift their offense when the well dried up from the floor. No player embodied that efficiency more than senior Tatum Jones, who netted 10 of her 12 points from the foul line, missing just two.

Junior point guard Chloe Pelster came alive in the fourth quarter to push the Mustangs over the finish line, eventually ending her night with 14 points. By game’s end, Mullen shot just 30% from the floor (12 for 40), but Mead fared worse at 11 for 47 (23.4%).

“The fact that we get to play 6A teams all year — and we have a pretty strong schedule — really benefits us when we’re going into 5A playoffs, because they have a different confidence to them,” Mullen head coach Tonia Jones said. “This is a tough year for 5A, just like it is for 6A, and the benefit is we get to play 6-5 Sienna Betts (of Grandview), who’s going to get us ready for games like this.”

Jones said the Mustangs emphasize free throws in their practices, and fell just short of their 80% goal. She added, “We don’t often get a lot of calls just because we have the height advantage, so it was really great today that they got to attack and go to the line.”

Prior to their two-season stint in 6A, the Mustangs won three straight 4A crowns. They carried the intensity from a tenacious Centennial League schedule into the Final Four, and relied on their staunch defense inside the arc and length near the post.

Mead lost in the Final Four for the third time in the past four seasons. Mavericks head coach Mike Ward said that’s just a side effect of the larger Renaissance of women’s basketball around the country, and among a smaller yet thriving Colorado high school scene.

“You get this far, it’s going to be a dogfight. You got to beat good teams if you want to win this whole thing,” he said, adding that teams like Mead, Mullen, Air Academy and Grandview are “showcasing what women’s basketball is in this state. I hope that as we continue to go down this road, the girls that are in third, fourth, fifth grade in every community, they look up to the girls that are playing right now.”

The Mavericks leaned on senior leader Darby Haley to breathe life into their offense in the second half, but a second-quarter hole proved too deep to dig out of. She finished her night with 14 points, while no other Maverick came close to matching that mark.

The Mavericks and Mustangs met each other’s mettle throughout a sluggish first quarter, leading to an 8-8 tie by the time the buzzer sounded. The defensive dogfight that ensued had both teams throwing up brick after brick, but Mullen was able to differentiate itself at the line in the second frame.

The Mustangs drew most of Mead’s first-half fouls through their shooting motions, and cashed in repeatedly. They sank 11 of 14 free throws in the first half alone.

The Mavericks shot just 17.4% from the field in the opening two quarters, but Mullen wasn’t much better at 22.7%. The Mustangs abused every miscue that Mead made, and forced 11 turnovers before the break rolled around. Mullen led 21-10 at the half, never letting the Mavericks (23-4) make a field goal in the second quarter.

“Their shooting didn’t really affect us once we started switching on screens and it was really easy to adjust,” Pelster said. “We just took advantage of them when we were driving and just switching on the screens, and their back doors didn’t affect us anymore.”

No. 1 Air Academy 68, No. 5 Green Mountain 63 >> After two years of heartbreak, the Kadets found a way to finish. And now, they are one win away from perfection.

With outside shooters Lydia Flowers and Audrina Nelson hitting early, and Kinley Asp sinking just enough free throws late, the Kadets advanced to a 5A title showdown with No. 6 Mullen at 5:45 p.m. Saturday and a shot at their first championship in 13 years.

Air Academy (26-0) led by as many as 16 points in the first half as Flowers (18 points) and Nelson (17 points) caught fire early with 10 points apiece.

But Green Mountain, led by Ella Cockrum (12 points) and Peyton Coil (12 points), refused to go away, eventually pulling as close as four points with 15 seconds to go. But with Asp burying 6 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes to finish with 13 points, the Rams (24-3) ran out of time.

Air Academy saw each of its last two seasons end with gut-wrenching losses in the Coliseum that saw them squander double-digit leads. This time, the Kadets are marching on.