OSAWATOMIE — Iola High’s girls took an early lead Friday and never looked back to pick up their most lopsided win in more than two seasons.
The Fillies were particularly ferocious on defense, allowing only two field goals on the night, forcing 24 turnovers and making life miserable from start to finish for their hosts from Osawatomie High.
Iola scored the game’s first nine points, led 11-1 after one quarter and 24-5 at halftime of a 40-10 victory.
The win lifts the Fillies’ record to 3-4 on the season.
“Our defense was good, but what I was happiest about was that we didn’t take our lead for granted,” Fillies head coach Becky Carlson said. “We kept up our intensity until the end.”
Iola’s Mikaela Platt got things started with a 3-pointer and a steal and layup within the game’s first 70 seconds to stake the Fillies to a 5-0 lead. Emery Driskel followed with a pair of baskets to push the lead to nine.
Emma Piazza’s long jumper late in the period pushed the lead to 11-1.
Osawatomie’s Suzy Waddle drained a guarded jumper with 6:54 left in the half for the Trojans’ first field goal. Larissa Harrison’s bucket about five minutes later was Osawatomie’s last.
Meanwhile, the Fillies received contributions up and down its roster. Kyra Moore fed Toni Macha for a lay-in before Sidney Wade’s steal and layup pushed Iola up 16-3. Driskel was second before Addie Haar ended the half with a putback and two free throws.
The second half was more of the same. Platt scored a putback, Hannah Endicott scored inside and Macha converted a three-point play to push Iola up 34-7. She added two free throws late in the third to push the Fillies’ lead to 31, triggering a running clock through the fourth quarter.
The damage could have been worse. Iola hit only 10 of 21 free throws and had several shots rim out, giving the Fillies a cool 34-percent shooting night.
“We got some good looks at the basket, but those shots just didn’t fall,” Carlson said. “And we had a few instances when we’d get the steal, and travel as we headed up court.”
Little matter, although Carlson said she expects the Fillies to iron out those blemishes in short order.
Driskel led the way with nine points, while Macha had eight points and four rebounds. Platt scored seven with three assist. Wade chipped in with three assists and three steals. Lexie Long, Haar and Driskel also had three steals.
Waddle and Harrison each had three points for the Trojans.
The Fillies prevailed, 29-17, in junior varsity play. Taylor Sell led the Iola JV with 10 points. Riley Murry, Jo Lohman, Olivia Bannister and Micaiah Larney all had four.
The C team made it a Fillies sweep with a 29-2 romp. Wade scored 11, Murry and Macha added eight and six points respectively. Taylor Heslop and Lohman both had two.
The Fillies return home Tuesday to host Central Heights.
Iola (11-13-14-2—40)
Osawatomie (1-4-3-2—10)
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): 1-1-2-3, Long 0-1-1-1, Moore 0-1-1-1, Piazza 1-0-2-2, Lohman 0-0-1-0, Shields 1-0-1-2, Endicott 1-0-4-2, Haar 1-2-1-4, Platt 2/1-0-2-7, Driskel 4-1-2-9, Macha 2-5-1-9. TOTALS: 13/1-10-18-40.
Osawatomie (FG-FT-F-TP): Johnson 0-0-1-0, Wendt 0-1-2-1, Larson 0-1-0-1, Fereira 0-0-3-0, Guilfoyle 0-1-1-1, Thompson 0-0-4-0, Waddle 1-1-5-3, Harrison 1-1-3-3, McReynolds 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 2-6-21-10.
Fillies get defensive in romp over Trojans
