LA CYGNE — Points were at a premium early Tuesday.
But while host Prairie View High’s boys were able to find some semblance of an offense, Iola High’s Mustangs could not.
“It was like our feet were in the mud,” Iola head coach Jay Applegate said of Iola’s 38-23 defeat. “The whole game was a struggle.”
The loss snapped Iola’s modest two-game winning streak.
“We took several steps back from the last two games,” Applegate said.
The game was scoreless for the first 5 minutes. Iola’s Ethan Holloway had three early blocks on defense, but the Mustang offense had trouble getting the ball inside.
Holloway scored inside and Brett Taylor’s jumper from the elbow gave the Mustangs a 4-2 lead after one period.
The momentum changed in the second period. Iola went almost the entire quarter without a field goal.
Only a pair of Evan Sigg free throws and an Isaiah Fawson outback with about 10 seconds left in the half were all the Mustangs could muster.
Meanwhile, Trent Phelps drained a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to give the Buffalos a 7-4 lead, part of a 10-0 Buffalo run.
Phelps’ circus shot at the buzzer gave Prairie View an 18-8 lead at the break.
Joey Zimmerman and Fawson drained 3-pointers in the third quarter, but all they could do was draw Iola as close as 7.
The Buffalos led 28-18 after three.
Another Fawson trey cut the deficit to 30-23 with about 5 minutes left in the game.
But the Buffalos hit 8 of 10 free throws from there to stay safely in front. Iola went scoreless after Fawson’s trey.
“We’ve got to do the little things well,” Applegate said. “We had 21 turnovers tonight,” Applegate said. “Most of those were unforced — bad passes, bad decisions. But it wasn’t just bad passes. We also didn’t do a good job of coming to meet the ball. We didn’t rebound well. Overall, it was a pretty blah night.”
