FREDONIA — Bill Peeper readily admits his Iola High boys squad doesn’t have much polish on the young basketball season.
But what they lack in technique, Peeper said, the Mustangs make up for with hustle and effort.
Hustle plays down the stretch sent the Mustangs into the holiday break with a 60-56 win over Fredonia High Tuesday.
The win, Iola’s second in a row, gives the Mustangs a 3-2 record as they embark on the Christmas break. Iola returns to action Jan. 7 at Chanute.
“We made things hard on ourselves tonight,” Peeper said. “Obviously, they played hard and scrappy. I told the guys before the game that Fredonia could play. Even though we didn’t know much about them, we knew they had some good players.”
Fredonia sophomore Isaac Ostrosky almost single-handedly kept the Yellowjackets in the game at times. His game-high 25 points included three 3-pointers during a 15-4 Fredonia run that turned a 41-33 Iola advantage into a 46-45 Fredonia lead with 5:35 left in the game.
Even more troublesome, Iola’s Tyler Powelson went to the bench with his fifth foul 10 seconds later, depriving Iola of its primary post defender.
“There were some frustration fouls,” Peeper said. “We’ve got to be able to adapt better.”
Iola regained the lead at the 5-minute mark on Kaden Macha’s basket, although Fredonia twice pulled back even, the second time on Zach Moya’s bucket with 1:39 remaining.
Trent Latta hit the second of two free throws with 1:21 left to put Iola on top, 55-54, when Adam Kauth stepped to the fore with arguably the most important sequence of the game.
Kauth drew a charge that negated a basket by Caleb Couch that would have given Fredonia the lead.
With possession, Iola’s Jesse Zimmerman — who had drained a pair of 3-pointers early in the game — came up short on a jumper with just under a minute remaining. The ball appeared headed out of bounds before Macha leapt, caught the ball in mid-air and threw it back onto the court, off of Moya’s leg, and into the waiting arms of Kauth, who quickly scored before Moya could react.
Ostrosky missed on his next two point attempts — the second swirling around the rim before popping out — while Latta went 2 of 4 from the line to push the Mustang advantage to five, 59-54.
The Yellowjackets had one last gasp. Ostrosky’s steal and layup with 2.2 seconds left cut the Iola lead to 59-56. The Yellowjackets set up a press with the hopes of getting another steal. But a deep inbound pass to Latta allowed him to run out the clock with no further damage.
Latta led the way with 17 points, two steals and two assists, followed by Macha with nine points and six rebounds, Zimmerman with eight points and two blocks, and Fryendz Wallace and McIntosh with seven points apiece. Wallace added six rebounds and two steals before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Powelson chipped in with six rebounds, two assists and three blocks.
Moya added 14 points for Fredonia, many of which came inside.
