Iola High head coach Bill Peeper wasn’t sure if it was simply playing on the home court for the first time in the 2012-13 season, or if it was a group of seniors who have taken it upon themselves to provide leadership to their fellow teammates.
Regardless, Peeper said the Mustangs may have found the right elements in correcting what had been a pain in the keester so far this season — slow starts offensively.
Iola never trailed against visiting Fredonia High Tuesday, grabbing the upper hand with an early 8-0 run.
The resulting 63-49 win gives the Mustangs a dose of confidence headed into a weeklong respite.
The 2-3 Mustangs do not return to action until next Tuesday when they host the visiting Chanute High Blue Comets in the squad’s final game before Christmas break.
“There are a lot of little things we need to correct, but tonight we definitely were better at getting started,” Peeper said. “We’ve been focusing on coming out with intensity and urgency in our play.”
Iola accomplished just that with a teamwork approach early on. All five starters scored within the game’s first 3½ minutes as the Mustangs zipped to a 10-2 lead.
“Our seniors did a good job of leading us tonight,” Peeper said. “Levi (Ashmore) and Mason (Coons) have been working hard to take on a leadership role. Eli gave us a spark off the bench.”
Fredonia bounced back after Iola’s early flurry, propelled by a pair of Kyle Sommer 3-pointers to close the gap to 13-12, but Trent Latta responded shortly therafter with a 3-pointer of his own to re-establish a four-point lead.
The margin swelled to 15 points in the latter part of the second quarter, and Coons drained a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left in the half to give Iola its largest lead of the night at 32-15.
A slow start to the third quarter allowed Fredonia to creep back to within shouting distance.
Sommer’s three-point play capped a 17-8 run for the Yellowjackets to cut the gap to 40-32 with 1:26 left in the period.
“Tonight we didn’t hit our lull until the third quarter,” Peeper joked. “Usually, we start out the game with it.”
Iola’s lead stood at 42-34 with just over seven minutes left in the game when Levi Ashmore intercepted a Fredonia pass, streaked ahead of the Yellowjacket defense and drained a 3-pointer. Another steal seconds later led to three-point play by Mason Coons to push the lead to 14, 48-34 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Momentum swung back and forth down the stretch, with Iola never leading by more than 14 or less than 11 down the stretch. The Mustangs were aided by improved free throw shooting, hitting 6 of 10 charities down the fourth quarter.
Iola opened the game by missing 6 of its first 7 free throw attempts.
“We didn’t start off well with our free throws, but we hit them down the stretch,” Peeper said.
Iola’s post players both narrowly missed double-doubles. Coons led the way for Iola with 17 points and nine rebounds. Tyler Powelson followed with 10 points and nine boards, along with four steals on defense. Ashmore poured in 12 points, with five assists and four steals. Adam Kauth dished out four assists.
Sommer (17 points) and Brandon Voth (16) combined to score 33 of Fredonia’s 49 points.
“It’s nice to finally play at home, and it’ll be nice to get some practices in after last week,” Peeper said, in which Iola played four games in the first eight days of the season.
Iola hosts Chanute next Tuesday.
“We kind of think we owe them one after Friday’s game,” Peeper said, a tournament game in which Chanute raced to a 19-4 lead in a 50-42 win.
Iola’s junior varsity defeated Fredonia 58-52 Tuesday. Jesse Zimmerman scored 13 points and Fryendz Wallace 12 to pace the Mustang JV. Kohl Endicott followed with nine and Shane Walden with seven. Adam Peterson scored five, Kaden Macha and Alex Bauer four apiece, Bryan Mueller three and Travis Hermstein one.
Fredonia (12-3-17-17—49)
Iola (18-14-10-21—63)
Fredonia (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Voth 5-6-4-16, Sommer 2/3-4-3-17, Couch 1-0-1-2, Stephens 0-1-2-1, Bass 0/1-0-1-3, Johnson 0-0-3-0, Morris 1-0-3-2, Moya 4-0-5-8. TOTALS: 13/4-11-23-49.
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Latta 1/1-1-4-6, Ashmore 2/2-2-2-12, Coons 4/1-6-4-17, McIntosh 2-2-3-6, Clubine 1-0-1-2, Macha 0-0-1-0, Kauth 4-0-2-8, Powelson 4-2-5-10, Grover 0-2-1-2. TOTALS: 18/4-15-23-63.
It’s home, sweet home for Mustangs
