OSAWATOMIE — The Iola Mustangs rallied from a third-quarter double-digit deficit to win 43-41 Tuesday’s Pioneer League contest in the final second on a shot from freshman guard Haidyn Desmarteau.
With 1.8 seconds left on the clock, freshman forward Breighlynn Rutherford lofted a pass from beyond the half court line into the arms of Desmarteau, who managed to get the shot off just before the buzzer sounded.
“It was a really good throw. I thought it was going to go to Zoie, but it landed right in my hands,” Desmarteau said.
Rutherford said her pass to Desmarteau helped erase a bad memory.
“I was supposed to throw it long [in a game] against Santa Fe Trail, and I didn’t even make it to half court,” she said. “This time, I said to myself that it had better go past half court and I just chucked it far. I’ve always been a quarterback on the rec football team.”
RAVAGED by illness, and with only six players available for the contest, Iola coach Emily Sigg credited her players for their grit and tenacity.
“We’ve been in so many close ones this year, and we’ve been taking punches left and right,” Sigg said. “We were down three players and Haidyn was out yesterday. It’s been really rough, but we’ve been saying all week ‘attitude and effort.’ They’re tough.”
After junior forward Mahala Burris fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, Sigg had to rely on freshman guard Blayke Folk to step up in her varsity debut. She did and then some with a game-tying 3-pointer, which set up the game-winning inbound pass.
Rutherford kicked off the third-quarter rally with a 3-pointer, followed by a pair of successful drives by Desmarteau and junior guard Zoie Hesse. Jumpers by Folk and Desmarteau as well as drives by freshman forward Carmeron Wille and Rutherford put Iola within striking distance of tying the game.
With the win, the Mustangs improved their record to 6-16 overall and 4-7 in Pioneer League play. Desmarteau had a team-leading 12 points, followed by Hesse with 11, including five free-throws. Rutherford had nine points, with the entirety of her offensive production coming during Iola’s third-quarter rally.
“You could see a shift where they said ‘Hey, we’re down and we need to win this game,’” Coach Sigg said. “Thankfully, we have some days we can get healthy and ready to go for Monday. That’s a winnable game for us. We lost by five last time (against Wellsville) and that game we had a bad attitude game.”
The Mustangs return to the hardwood Monday for the Senior Night regular season finale at home against Wellsville. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
