For comparison’s sake, Tuesday’s 61-54 loss to Wellsville showed the strides Iola High’s boys have made this season.
It was less than six weeks ago when this same Wellsville squad thumped Iola by 27, and had a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“Yes, we’ve improved,” Iola head coach Jay Applegate said. “But I don’t want us to get satisfied just with how much we’ve improved up to now.”
Tuesday was an example.
Iola, for the most part, was effective in slowing down the Eagles’ half-court offense, “but our transition defense wasn’t good at all,” Applegate said. “We didn’t do a good job of getting back on defense.”
And the Mustangs had a lull that allowed Wellsville to break an 11-11 deadlock. Caleb Mann’s 3-pointer late in the first quarter triggered a 16-7 run to take the lead for good.
The Mustangs showed their grit, keeping Wellsville within arm’s length for much of the duration, but could not put together enough consecutive baskets to be a threat down the stretch.
“Our first half offense hurt us,” Applegate said.
The Eagles twice led by nine in the second quarter before Iola’s Braden Plumlee dropped a baseline runner, followed by a pair of Ethan Holloway free throws to cut the halftime deficit to 29-24.
The lead yo-yoed between five and nine points through much of the third quarter.
Isaiah Fawson sparked a frantic Iola comeback attempt in the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer sliced Wellsville’s lead to 42-36, but Kyle Powelson promptly responded for the Eagles with a 3 of his own. Another Powelson trey a minute later pushed the lead to double digits for the first time.
Fawson, who scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, got Iola within six, 60-54, in the waning seconds.
But it was too little, too late.
“We still think we have six games to play,” Applegate said.
Iola has one regular season game left, on Thursday at Santa Fe Trail, before Class 4A-II substate action begins next week. The state tournament follows.
“If we play as good as we can possibly play, we’re going to get some wins,” Applegate said. “We just need to play well.”
