GARNETT — Burlington High’s Wildcats, one of the strongest girls basketball programs in the area, was on its heels.
After the Wildcats rolled through the regular season with a 19-1 mark, then opened substate play with a 32-point romp over Anderson County, it would have been natural to figure it was only a matter of time before the Wildcats needed to clear some more area in their trophy case.
Saturday’s substate championship against Iola High’s Fillies looked no different.
The Wildcats scored the game’s first 10 points before Iola attempted its first field goal.
“We could have said, ‘Here we go again,’” Iola head coach Becky Carlson said. “But we fought through it.”
Did they ever.
Iola blitzed the top-ranked Wildcats with a 14-0 run to take the lead late in the first half.
Burlington responded as champions can do, scoring 17 straight of its own, then withstanding a Fillies charge down the stretch.
Burlington’s 51-38 win puts the Wildcats (21-1) as the top seed in the upcoming Class 4A-II state tournament. The loss ends Iola’s season at 13-9.
“We gave them everything they wanted,” Carlson said. “Burlington is that good for a reason. They played some great defense.”
The Wildcat press fueled Burlington’s third quarter run.
Burlington’s Summer Kirchner scored to give the Wildcats a 30-17 lead less than three minutes into the third, after the squads were tied 17-17 at halftime.
Iola didn’t go down without a fight.
Jo Lohman scored on a putback — ending a 7½-minute scoring drought — Toni Macha drilled a short jumper, Emma Piazza connected on a layup and Addie Haar’s bucket to end the period had the Fillies within nine, 34-25.
The Wildcats pushed back to a 13-point cushion before Piazza sandwiched a 3-pointer and a short jumper around a Burlington turnover to cut the gap to 38-28.
