Mustangs fall to Chanute, 51-40

BALDWIN CITY — Chanute High’s defense was in the zone, literally and proverbially, against Iola High Tuesday evening.
Chanute’s zone gave Iola fits all night in the opening round of the Bulldog-Wildcat Invitational hosted by Baldwin High School.
Iola went nearly the entire third quarter without a field goal. The Mustangs mustered only three free throws until Tyler Powelson drained an inside shot with 42 seconds remaining in the period.
The dry spell allowed Chanute to turn a 24-22 halftime lead into a 36-27 advantage by the end of the quarter.
Iola got no closer than five down the stretch in a 51-40 defeat.
The loss comes in tournament pool play. The Mustangs return to take on host Baldwin tonight in the final pool A contest. Results from the two games will determine Iola’s final-round matchup on Friday.
“Teams are just going to keep packing in the zone against us until we find a way to beat it,” Mustang head coach Bill Peeper said. “We did a poor job of executing what we wanted to do.”
Chanute’s defense had a thing or two to do with that.
Iola committed 24 turnovers, with numerous coming on failed entry passes that were swatted away and pulled in by Blue Comet defenders.
“Tyler Powelson was open inside several times,” Peeper said. “We just couldn’t get the ball to him.”
Chanute’s taller front line also made life miserable for the Mustangs as they tried to score inside.
If shots weren’t blocked, Iola’s hurried attempts to elude the outstretched arms of Chanute’s 6-5 Trey Ellis, 6-3 Derek Sharp and 6-3 Caleb Dietsch frequently bounced harmlessly off the rim.
“They were bigger than us, but a lot of teams we face are going to be bigger than us,” Peeper said.
To combat the size differential, the Mustangs deployed a swarming press that was quite effective at times at stalling Chanute’s offensive attack.
The game started turning in Chanute’s favor when foul trouble reared its ugly head for the Mustangs in the second quarter. Mustang starters Powelson, Kaden Macha and Bryan Mueller all went to the bench with their second fouls by the 5:40 mark. Chanute went 8 of 14 from the line to take a 24-22 lead into intermission.
Keeping Iola in the game was senior guard Trent Latta, who drained three 3-pointers in the first half. Powelson had six points in the first quarter before spending much of the second period on the bench.
Chanute finally began gouging Iola’s press with quick upcourt passing, usually ending with Ellis layups. Ellis scored 10 of the Blue Comets’ 12 points in the period.
The lead reached double figures for the first time on Ellis’ layup with 42 seconds left. Powelson’s bucket late in the quarter cut Iola’s deficit to 36-27.
The lead grew to 40-29 before Latta drained his fourth trey of the night, followed by a traditional three-point play by Powelson with 4:06 left in the contest to cut the deficit to 40-35.
Jordan Richards of Chanute and Mueller for Iola both hit a pair of free throws to keep the margin at five. But Iola went scoreless for three straight minutes, courtesy of a missed field goal and three straight turnovers.
Chanute, meanwhile, hit 8 of 10 free throws over the game’s final 70 seconds to pull away.
Latta again was Iola’s main offensive catalyst with 19 points, four steals and four rebounds. Powelson followed with 13 points and five rebounds. Latta and Powelson accounted for 10 of Iola’s 11 field goals in the contest.
“We have to do a better job of rebounding,” Pepper said. “We didn’t play terrible defense, but we struggled at keeping them off the boards and getting second chances. We just couldn’t put anything together.”
Adam Kauth added five rebounds, while Mueller, Fryendz Wallace and Tyler McIntosh each had two steals. Mueller and McIntosh also had two assists.
The Mustangs committed 24 turnovers and were a cool 30 percent from the field.
Ellis wound up with 17 to lead Chanute. Dietsch added 13 and Sharp had 10.
“Chanute did a good job with its size and aggressiveness,” Peeper said. “They posed some matchup problems for us. Nothing will be easy for us this season. We’ll work this out and be better for it in the long run. Or at least that’s the idea. If we’re still having this conversation later I’m going to be disappointed because it means we haven’t learned anything.”
Chanute (12-12-12-15—51)
Iola (10-12-5-13—40)
Chanute (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Lee 0-0-1-0, Richards 0-2-1-2, Dietsch 3-7-4-13, Troxell 1-5-2-7, Erikson 1-0-3-2, Ellis 8-1-5-17, Sharp 1/1-5-4-10. TOTALS: 14/1-20-20-51.
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Latta 2/4-3-4-19, Mueller 0-2-4-2, Wallace 1-0-4-2, Endicott 0-0-2-0, McIntosh 0-1-1-1, Zimmerman 0-0-2-0, Macha 0-0-5-0, Kauth 0-3-1-3, Powelson 4-5-4-13. TOTALS: 7/4-14-27-40.