OSAWATOMIE — When the Iola girls basketball team went into the locker room for halftime clinging to a one-point lead against Osawatomie, they knew they were capable of much more and in the second half they showed it on the way to a 39-25 road win.
“We just needed to get it done and get out there,” Iola forward Toni Macha said. “It was kind of rough at the beginning but we did get it done.”
The Iola girls team has been short-handed the past couple of weeks as point guard Sydney Wade continues to recover from a high-ankle sprain.
“She is still kind of stiff,” Iola coach Becky Carlson said of Wade. “We are hoping (she can return) next week.”
Last week, forward Toni Macha also missed a game and was slowed in another with illness.
“I was pretty excited to be back with my team and back in it with everybody,” Macha said.
On Tuesday, it was starting wing Ashlie Shields who was under the weather.
Senior Olivia Bannister started in place of Shields even though Shields was able to play in the game.
“It takes a lot of teamwork to pull through with everyone sick and the upperclassmen are stepping up,” Macha said.
Without Wade and with Shields limited, the Fillies had an up-and-down opening half and only took a 17-16 into the half.
“In the first half we just kind of played and we talked about it at halftime, not waiting for them to lose, to play to win and attack them,” Carlson said.
Determined to take control, Macha — who was held to just one basket in the first half — erupted for 10 points after the intermission.
“She is just everywhere and very intense,” Carlson said. “She is always where the ball is.”
She finished with 12 points total.
Macha wasn’t the only Iola player to get into a groove in the second half. The Fillies went on a 20-4 run to open the second half and built a 37-20 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
“As soon as we got into a team rhythm it all kind of fell through,” Macha said.
