‘Haar’-fought road win for Fillies Iola beats Central Heights 35-23 in game that features more defense than offense

RICHMOND — Pressure defense helped Iola High’s Fillies get a win on a night that the ball was having a tough time finding the bottom of the net. Iola notched a 35-23 win over Central Heights on Friday night.
The Fillies started the game with a full-court pressure defense. It resulted in a low scoring game.
“We felt that pressure would hurt them,” coach Becky Carlson said. “I think by the time that the game was over it did. They made a lot more turnovers in the second half.”
The score after the first quarter was 6-2. Addie Haar accounted for all of Iola’s points, scoring each basket in the paint. In a game that featured a less than stellar offensive performance from the Fillies in the first half, Haar was the outlier scoring 6 of her 11 points in the first. Iola mustered only 12 points in the first, but tallied off 23 points in the second.
After missing Tuesday’s win against Santa Fe Trail due to being ill, Sydney Wade came back with a strong offensive performance in the second half. With the game tied 12-12 at half, Wade scored 10 of her 12 points in the second.
Emma Piazza got Iola off to a nice start, hitting a 3-pointer with 5:35 left to play in the third to give the Fillies a 15-12 lead. A minute later, Wade connected on a 3-pointer and Iola had the 18-14 lead.
Central Heights did rally and took a brief 19-18 lead with 2:10 to go. Iola quickly responded. Haar connected on a mid-range jumper and Wade made a breakaway layup. Iola led 22-19 after the third quarter.
The Fillies really stared to pull away in the fourth.
Haar scored on a putback to give Iola a 25-20 lead with 6:50 left. The basket started a 9-0 run. Ashlie Shields had a heads up play, catching a missed shot by Jo Lohman for a quick basket. On the next possession, Lohman found Wade on an inbound pass and easy layup down the lane.
From there, Central Heights started to send the Fillies to the foul line to stop the clock. Wade, Lohman and Mikaela Platt each hit free throws in the final minutes. It wasn’t Iola’s best offensive game, but the Fillies did enough to get a win on the road.
“We just couldn’t get a ball to fall,” Carlson said. “I was proud of Platt going in there and knocking those free throws down. Any where you play on the road its good to have a win.”
Iola (9-6) hosts Prairie View on Tuesday.
The Fillies lost to the Buffaloes 52-49 on Dec. 20 in overtime. Carlson said that the team is ready for the rematch.

EARLIER, THE junior varsity Fillies beat Central Heights 21-14. Colbi Riley, Jayden Sigg, Ashlie Shields and Taelyn Sutterby each scored four points. Taylor Sell added three points and Della Lohmann scored two.

Iola 35, Central Heights 23
Iola (6-6-10-13—35) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Wade 3/1-3-0-12, Long 0-0-2-0, Moore 0-0-1-0, Piazza 1/1-0-1-5, Lohman 1-1-3-3, Shields 1-0-2-2, Haar 5-1-2-11, Platt 0-2-1-2, Driskel 0-0-3-0, Macha 0-0-1-0
Central Heights (2-10-8-4—23) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Bell 2-2-4-6, Sheldon 0-0-5-0, Clancy 0-1-0-1, Schaefer 1-1-3-3, Davis 0-0-1-0, Markley 3-3-0-9, Meyer 1-2-5-4, Hale 0-0-1-0