Fillies run out of magic at home – Fort Scott girls edge Fillies in substate game

“Do you believe in magic in a young girl’s heart?” — The Lovin’ Spoonful.
Iola High’s Fillies had a magical run on the IHS basketball court this season. They did not lose a regular season game at home in 2010-2011.
Unfortunately, the Fillies needed one more drop of that magic here Tuesday in Kansas Class 4A substate basketball action. A long outside jumper by senior Carly Mulsow was dead on but the basketball went in and out.
Iola had put the ball inbounds with 7.3 seconds remaining, down by one point. Mulsow’s shot came off and a battle for the rebound was enough to let time expire.
Fort Scott High’s Tigers got away with  44-43 victory. They advance to Friday’s semifinals in the 4A substate tournament in Paola.
The Tigers take on top-seeded Ottawa, which beat Anderson County 57-25 Tuesday. 
“I didn’t think the girls were going to lose this game. We had such a great comeback,” said Becky Carlson, Fillies’ head coach. “We got a great look and Carly’s shot was true. It just didn’t go in.”
Comeback, oh yeah, need to share that.
After leading all the first half and most of the second, the Fillies found themselves down by 10 points. The Tigers had taken control of the game late in the third quarter.
Fort Scott’s 5-10 freshman Brianne Lawrence put the finishing touches on a 17-point performance for the Tigers by hitting one of two free throws with 2:29 left in the game.
Fort Scott was up 42-32 and cruising.
Within a minute and 10 seconds span, the tide had turned. Iola junior Kendra Taiclet nailed a three-pointer. The Tigers turned the ball over five seconds later against Iola’s full-court pressure.
Mulsow ripped the net for three and again the Tigers turned the ball over. Taiclet hit a measly two to make it 42-40 at the 1:47 mark.
Ten seconds later, the Tigers turned the ball over and took a timeout. With 1:19 on the game clock, senior Toni Taylor drained a three to put Iola up 43-42.
Following a timeout, the Fillies forced yet another Fort Scott turnover. With 1:05 on the clock, the Fillies worked the ball around and time off the clock.
Finally with 23.6 seconds left Mallory Shelton fouled Taiclet, putting Iola in the one-and-one. Iola struggled at the line all night and Taiclet missed the front end. Lawrence claimed the rebound for Fort Scott.
Katren Rienbolt got loose underneath for a basket. Fort Scott led 44-43 with 12 seconds left. The Fillies moved the ball down court and called a timeout.
The Fillies were 4 of 14 from the free-throw line. The Tigers cashed in on 17 of 22 free throw attempts.
It played a big part in the game. Lawrence scored 11 of her points in the second half. She hit 7 of 10 free throws.
“Lawrence did a good job inside on us. Fort Scott’s a good team. We played hard the whole game and never gave up,” Carlson said.
“We had a couple of scoring lapses that allowed them to get their leads. The girls came back each time.”
The game was a slow starter. Iola led 7-4 at the end of the first quarter. Five of those points came in the final two minutes.
Kelsey Larson, junior guard, hit the first of seven three-pointers by the Fillies to end the period. Iola got out to a 13-6 lead with 5:08 left in the second quarter.
Fort Scott went on a 7-2 run to finish the first half. Lawrence got a putback at the buzzer as Iola had 15-13 lead.
The Tigers clawed out to an 18-15 lead and Iola was dealing with foul troubles.
Mulsow tied the game with a three-pointer then Taylor put Iola up on a trey, 21-18. Senior guard Maggie Wilson drilled a three but it was answered by a conventional three-point play by Lawrence at the other end.
Larson made a drive to the rim for two and Iola was up 26-22 midway through the third. The game was tied two more times.
Senior Kirstin McGuffin’s basket at the  1:25 mark made it 29-29. The Tigers went into the fourth quarter up 31-29 and had a 11-3 scoring surge to the 10-point lead.
Iola went 1 of 6 from the foul line in that span.
“We trailed and we hurried things a bit then when they (the Fillies) decided to go get it, they went and  got it,” Carlson said of the rally.
Iola shot 40 percent, 16 of 40, from the field, which included 7 of 16 threes. Mulsow and Taylor each scored eight points.
Senior Kayla Callahan and McGuffin pulled down five rebounds each in their final game. Taiclet had four rebounds. Taylor handed out three assists.
Iola had 11 steals, led by Larson and Callahan with three each. Taylor, Wilson and Taiclet had two thefts apiece. Iola turned the ball over 12 times.
“It was a great season. We were picked seventh in the Southeast Kansas League and finished third. We struggled a bit but had a great run here at the end,” Carlson said.
“It was a pleasure to coach this group of kids, especially these seniors.”
The Fillies finish at 11-10 overall. They were 5-3  in SEK league play.
Iola (7-8-14-14—43) (FG/3-pt): Larson 2/1-0-3-7, Taiclet 1/1-2-2-7, Taylor 1/2-0-0-8, Wilson 1/1-1-1-6, Callahan 1-1-4-3, Mulsow 1/2-0-3-8, McGuffin 2-0-4-4. TOTALS: 9/7-4-17-43.
Fort Scott (4-9-18-13—44) (FG/3-pt): H. Tourtillott 1-0-2-2, M. Tourtillott 0-3-3-3, Rienbolt 1-7-3-9, Shelton 1-0-1-2, K. Allen 2/1-0-2-7, Campbell 2-0-0-4, Lawrence 5-7-2-17. TOTALS: 12/1-17-13-44.