Iola High’s girls had a few shining moments Tuesday, in their first game back from winter break.
But against an unbeaten Class 4A powerhouse like Fort Scott, it wasn’t enough.
The visiting Tigers took control with an early 15-2 run and never looked back in a 57-23 win.
Iola, in its first home game of the 2023-24 campaign, falls to 1-6 with the loss.
“We showed spurts of good play,” head coach Kelsey Johnson said. “We had spurts of ‘Oh, we can break this press easily and get layups,’ or ‘we can stop their defense.’”
But the Tigers were relentless at both ends of the court.
Keegan Yarick was pivotal in Fort Scott’s early scoring explosion, drilling a pair of 3-pointers as they turned a 4-4 deadlock into a 19-6 lead by the end of the period.
Iola’s early highlights included back-to-back assists from Alana Mader to set up Reese Curry for easy layups.
Iola’s man-to-man defense was effective at limiting Fort Scott’s inside looks as the Tigers’ hot early shooting cooled off.
But Mustang turnovers in a physical game prevented Iola from carving into the lead. Fort Scott led 28-14 at the break, and then ended the third quarter with nine straight points to effectively erase any suspense down the stretch.
“We’ve run a lot of zone early this year, and we’re still working on our man defense,” Johnson said. “The girls did a good job with it tonight.”
Curry’s aggression paid off with 10 points.
“She was about our only offense for a while,” Johnson said.
“We just have to remain focused,” she said. “We can learn from this game, and it’s a busy week. We can learn from everything. We just have to keep moving forward and keep working as a team.”
Yarick scored 21 and Kylee comstock 11 for Fort Scott.
FORT Scott prevailed, 47-31, in the junior varsity game. Iola’s JV was propelled by Zoie Hesse, who scored 18 points over three quarters of play. Bethany Miller followed with seven. Brooklyn Holloway scored six.
