First the bad news: Iola High’s girls scuffled most of the evening on offense. THE FILLIES junior varsity rolled to a 43-17 win. McKayli Cleaver, Della Lohman and Taylor Sell each had six points to lead the way. Olivia Bannister and Toni Macha scored five apiece. Shields and Taelyn Sutterby scored four each, Riley Murry and Sydney Wade both had three. Jadyn Sigg scored one.
Iola shot a cool 38 percent from the field, 54 percent from the line and had nearly as many personal fouls (17) as field goals (18). Heck, the Fillies only had four points at the end of the first quarter.
But here’s the good news: While Iola’s offense was stuck in neutral, its defense was downright stifling.
Even with the Fillies’ cool start, they never trailed, limiting Osawatomie to three first-quarter points.
And finally, the better news: Iola’s offense finally began to click in the second period, thanks to multiple transition opportunities, and the Fillies put together a 20-3 run to take control of a 44-22 victory.
The win keeps Iola perfect in Pioneer League play at 5-0, while pushing the Fillies to 8-6 overall.
“Our effort was there on offense, but we just couldn’t find our focus and finish,” Fillies head coach Becky Carlson said. “But we played great defense all night.”
Emery Driskel started the game-clinching run with five points in the first three minutes of the second period. Emma Piazza’s steal and layup was next, followed by a bucket by Addie Haar. Suddenly a 6-5 lead was 13-5.
Ashlie Shields came off the bench to put the finishing touches on the outburst with a jumper, a layup and a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in the half to put the Fillies up, 24-6.
The Trojans got no closer than 15 points in the second half. Hannah Endicott scored both of her field goals early in the fourth quarter as Iola’s lead ballooned past 20.
“Even though we were struggling on offense, I didn’t see any signs of frustration,” Carlson said. “We continued to work for good shots.
“I thought Ashlie Shields hit some big shots, and Jo did a great job. Addie and Emery both provided a bunch of energy underneath. The main thing about this team is that if somebody’s having an off night, we’ve got somebody else who can step up. Emma Piazza didn’t score a lot for us, but she was great on defense. We always put her on our opponents’ best player.”
The Fillies head to Central Heights Friday for another Pioneer League affair.
“I thought we’d be good in our league,” Carlson said. “It would have been disappointing if we hadn’t been this good.”
Haar’s nine points led Iola, while Driskel and Shields scored seven apiece and Endicott had six. Haar and Driskel both had four rebounds, while Lexie Long and Mikeala Platt both had three assists. Driskel had four steals and Shields three.
Taryn McReynolds scored eight, while Kelcey Wendt and Mariah Guilfoyle had six apiece for the Trojans.
“You can tell Osawatomie is getting better,” Carlson said. “They did a much better job of attacking the basket.”
In C team play, the Fillies rolled to a 24-2 romp. Murry led the way with eight points, Alexis Heslop and Lohman each had six and SIgg and Brook Storrer both scored two.
Osawatomie (3-3-9-7—22)
Iola (4-20-11-9—44)
Osawatomie (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): A. Johnson 0-0-1-0, Wendt 2-2-1-6, Larson 0-0-4-0, Guilfoyle 0/2-0-2-6, Thompson 0-0-1-0, Waddle 0-0-5-0, Harrison 1-0-0-2, McReynolds 2-4-1-8, J. Johnson 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 5/2-6-16-22.
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Wade 1-2-3-4, Long 0-1-1-1, Moore 0-0-2-0, Piazza 1-2-2-4, Lohman 1-2-0-2, Shields 2/1-0-0-7, Endicott 3-0-3-6, Haar 4-1-3-9, Platt 1-0-0-2, Driskel 3-1-0-7, Macha 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 17/1-7-17-44.
Fillies stay perfect in Pioneer League play
