After fighting to get back into the game, Iola High’s Mustangs weren’t able to climb all the way back in their 47-32 loss to Prairie View. EARLIER, THE JV Mustangs won 29-17. Brice Aiello led the way with 14 points. Chase Regehr scored five, Mason Ingle added four, Isaiah Fawson scored two and Zane Beasley also scored two. THE FRESHMEN won 45-31. Evan Sigg scored a game-high 17 points. Nick Vaughn added six, Zach Cokley added six and Ethan Tavarez scored five. Cale Barnhart, Isaac Vink and Matt Miller all scored three points. Matt Komma scored two points. Prairie View 47, Iola 32
The final score is a bit deceiving. Iola trailed 33-22 heading into the fourth quarter and had the game as close as six points. That was after being down 26-13 at the start of the third quarter.
“We felt good about our defensive intensity throughout the game,” coach Bill Peeper said. “There were some tough calls that went against us and near misses here and there. But, we brought ourselves up to within six points or so. We felt like we had a shot, we were kind of right there.”
To start the final period of play, Shane Walden found Adam Peterson underneath the basket to get a quick bucket. Iola trailed 33-25 with 7:15 left. On the Mustangs’ next possession, it was big man to big man. The 6-4 Peterson found 6-6 Ethan Holloway waiting under the basket and suddenly Prairie View’s 13-point lead was down to 33-27 with six minutes left.
After a little Buffalo run, Iola’s Ben Cooper hit a 3-pointer to bring the game to back within single digits. The Mustangs trailed 38-30 with 3:15 left. Down the stretch, Prairie View hit their free throws. Iola had to start fouling with 1:06 left to play, and that’s how Prairie View ended up winning the game by 15 points.
The fact that either team scored more than 30 points seemed impossible after the way the game started. At the end of the first quarter, the score was only 7-4 with Prairie View in the lead. Iola’s only lead of the game came with 5:20 left in the first quarter. Brett Taylor scored the first four points, giving the Mustangs a 4-2 lead. After that, Prairie View opened up its lead until the Mustangs’ late comeback attempt.
Peeper said he doesn’t think Iola is too far away from Prairie View — the Mustangs’ potential opponent in the first round of substate.
“We’ve kind of been saying all year that we’re close and we’re still saying that,” Peeper said. “The season is winding down and we’re still saying we’re not far away. That’s just on us as a program and all of us to demonstrate that we can take the next step to be able to compete with good teams.
“Knocking a shot down, finishing at the free throw line or being able to make that stop defensively if we need it. Whatever it might be. Our guys are playing hard, it’s not like they’re not trying.”
Iola (4-12) will face another substate opponent on Friday, traveling to Anderson County.
Peeper mentioned that Shane Walden has been able to play his way into a valuable role over the past month through effort on the court.
“We’ve got guys that are playing hard, but we don’t always play smart,” Peeper said. “That’s partly why our record is what it is. We just struggle to play smart. We struggle to do the right thing at the right time. We often do the right thing, but it’s at the wrong time. Or vice versa.”
Prairie View (7-17-9-14—47) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Phelps 1/1-6-1-11, Ackerson 3-3-2-9, Hoover 0/1-2-1-5, Bowman 1-7-0-9, Wagner 0-0-4-0, Peine 2-0-5-4, Robbins 2/1-2-5-9
Iola (4-9-10-9—32) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Cooper 0/1-1-4-4, Endicott 1-1-4-3, Taylor 2-0-4-4, Aiello 1-0-1-2, Walden 0-4-4-4, Macha 1-0-2-1, Holloway 2-0-1-4, Peterson 2-5-3-9
Mustang offense misfires in defense-focused game
