OSAWATOMIE — The Iola Mustangs won two out of three games Thursday while on the road at Osawatomie.
After the junior varsity Mustangs set the tone early with a 17-11 victory over the Osawatomie Lady Trojans, the seventh-grade varsity kept the party going with a 27-8 victory, but the eighth-graders fell short of a sweep after an early deficit had them playing from behind for a majority of Thursday’s 29-10 loss.
Macie Kimball’s third-quarter explosion lifted the junior varsity Mustangs to victory in the opener. A pair of buckets by Anna Klubek and Kalie Insley allowed Iola to take the game into halftime tied 4-4.
Kimball scored all of Iola’s 9 points in the third quarter off a pair of free-throws, a pair of field goals and a 3-pointer. Ahead 13-8 by the fourth, Iola scored a pair of field goals from Klubek and Gabi Crownover to hold on for the win.
Kimball scored a team-leading 9 points. Insley and Kublek had 4 points apiece, Crownover and Insley had 2 points each.
Instead of saving the fireworks for the third quarter, the seventh-grade Mustangs gave the Lady Trojans an opening salvo of points as they jumped out to a double-digit lead before halftime.
A pair of buckets by Abby Boeken and Jaylie Herrmann kept it a one-possession game with Iola ahead 3-1. The Mustangs then busted it wide open with a series of scores by Elliot Sigg, who had a team-leading 9 points.
Still hot from the JV game, Kimball added a pair of second-quarter buckets. Cayleigh Rutherford also got into the action with a bucket while Sigg knocked down a field goal and a free throw to give Iola a 13-3 lead heading into halftime.
Sigg did most of her damage in the second half with 6 points. Another 4 points by Kimball, who was second in scoring with 8 points, and a pair of buckets by Boeken and Herrmann gave Iola an insurmountable lead with Rylee Weast’s bucket solidifying the win.
After ending a nearly two-year losing streak last Tuesday, the Mustangs seemed primed to make it two in a row Thursday but fell in an early deficit they could not escape. Trailing 8-0 by the end of the first quarter, the Mustangs made a game of it with field goals from Cora Boren and Nebula Burrow but trailed 16-6 by halftime. 
A pair of free throws by Leanna Flory and a jumper by Hilary Gean added a bit of excitement to the contest but it was not enough to put Iola back in contention.
The Mustangs return to the hardwood Monday for a game at Wellsville, followed by a game Tuesday in Burlington before returning to Osawatomie next weekend for the Pioneer League Girls Basketball Tournament. Tip off for Monday and Tuesday’s contests is at 4 p.m.
