After a slow start by both teams Friday night, Iola High’s Fillies and visiting Purple Dragons of Pittsburg High staged a pretty good Southeast Kansas League contest. The Fillies strung together three solid quarters to secure a 36-29 victory.
Pittsburg led 3-2 after the first quarter. Both teams were playing zone defense and not allowing much offensively to happen.
“We got good looks at the basket but didn’t get anything to fall in that first quarter,” said Becky Carlson, Fillies’ head coach. “Finally, we got a shot down and things started to develop for us.
“Pittsburg plays well in their zone defense and they are bigger than we are so it was tough to get the ball inside on them.”
With 5:24 left in the half, Kendra Taiclet drained a three-pointer for Iola. Kelsey Larson had come up with a loose ball on the defensive end and drove the court against two Pittsburg defenders. The Fillies got the ball over to Taiclet who connected.
Maggie Wilson stole the basketball and hit a layup for the Fillies. Taiclet scored and Iola was up 9-3 with 3:25 on the clock.
Skyler Muff’s basket made it a four-point game. Toni Taylor hit the first of three three-pointers for Iola.
But the Dragons got the final five points of the first half. Lizzy Willis scored and was fouled. She missed the free throw but the Dragons controlled the rebound. The ball went outside to McKenzie Spresser, who knocked down a trey.
Iola held a 12-10 lead at halftime.
Spresser put her team up 13-12, netting another three to open the third quarter. Iola’s Kayla Callahan never got into the flow of the game because of foul trouble and she picked up her third and fourth fouls by the 5:19 mark.
Larson sparked the Fillies with a steal and layup to regain the lead. Taiclet blocked a Pittsburg shot and Larson scored a transition bucket.
With it 18-17, Taylor fired in a three-pointer for the Fillies with 1:37 left. Ashley Willis countered for the Dragons. Larson ripped the net for a three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, lifting Iola to a 24-19 lead.
Kirstin McGuffin had the first basket of the fourth quarter for Iola. Spresser scored at the other end then a Pittsburg player scored in Iola’s basket. The two points were credited to McGuffin.
It was 28-23 when Taylor drained another three at the 4:23 mark. The teams were trading baskets.
With 59.8 seconds remaining, Iola’s Carly Mulsow sank one of two free throws. The Fillies’ lead was 34-26.
Spresser hit a third three for Pittsburg. Wilson hit both ends of a one-and-one at the 26.3-second mark to seal the game for Iola.
“It was a great win for us against a good Pittsburg team,” Carlson said. “Toni had a great game and Kendra had a couple of great blocks against their bigger girl.”
Carlson said Larson and Wilson provided strong defensive play out front. She pointed to the minutes off the bench from Mulsow and McGuffin’s rebounding.
With two wins in a row, the Fillies are 3-2 in SEK play and 9-8 for the season. They host Chanute Monday and Labette County Tuesday in league action.
Taiclet and Taylor each had nine points for the Fillies. Taiclet also had nine rebounds while Larson had seven rebounds and seven steals. Wilson made six steals.
Spresser paced Pittsburg with 11 points.
Pittsburg won the junior varsity game 48-18 as Reagan Ford scored six for Iola. The freshman game went to Pittsburg 48-22 as Emma Sigg had 15 points for Iola.
Iola (2-10-12-12—36) (FG/3-pt): Larson 2/1-0-5-7, Taiclet 3/1-0-1-9, Taylor 0/3-0-0-9, Wilson 2-2-3-6, Callahan 0-0-5-0, Mulsow 0-1-1-1, McGuffin 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 9/5-3-17-36
Pittsburg (3-7-9-10—29) (FG/3-pt): Spresser 1/3-0-1-11, L. Willis 2-0-3-4, Muff 3-1-0-7, Short 1-2-2-4, Maxwell 0-0-1-0, A. Willis 1-0-0-2, Forrest 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 8/3-4-9-29.
Fillies capture SEK win over Dragons
