A gloomy start did in Iola Highs Fillies Thursday.
Visiting Wellsvilles withering full-court pressure forced the Fillies into a litany of early mistakes.
The Eagle raced out of the gate to nab leads of 14-2 and 25-5, and never looked back from there.
Iola clawed its way back to as close as 14 in the second half, but could get no closer in a 65-31 defeat.
Even when we got down the court, they put so much pressure, that we were nervous with the ball, Fillies head coach Becky Carlson said.
Wellsvilles dynamic duo of Made McCoy and Demi Aamold were the primary catalysts.
McCoy scored nine of her game-high 22 points in the first quarter, on an assortment of 3-pointers, layups and free throws. Aamold did much of her damage from beyond the arc. She drilled four 3-pointers one in each quarter on the way to scoring 17 points.
Still, the Fillies didnt go down without a fight.
Kelsey Morrison and Gaby Lampe each connected from 3-point range in the second quarter, then Hannah Gardner and Elysia Kunkler scored early in the third period as part of a 15-9 Fillies run to cut Wellsvilles lead to 34-20.
We settled in and played as hard as we could, Carlson said. The difference is, they have two girls who can shoot the 3. We did a great job with our help defense, but when you do that, you give up something else.
Wellsville re-exerted its defensive pressure midway through the third quarter, scoring 11 straight to push the gap to 25.
Iola never threatened again.
In a statistical oddity, 10 Fillies scored in the contest, but nobody had more than two field goals.
Becca Sprague led the way with five points. Lampe, Holloway and Kunkler added four apiece.
Jadyn Troutman added 11 for the Eagles.
