Despite a rough beginning and ending, the Mustangs reached down and snapped a three-game losing skid on Saturday, beating Prairie View 54-47 in the seventh-place game of the Burlington Invitational Tournament.
“It leaves a bad taste in your mouth the way that we finished the game,” head coach Luke Bycroft said. “We had an opportunity to finish the game on a good note with the way that we were playing but we will take the win at this point.”
Iola beat Prairie View earlier this year 48-36.
The game started off as a nightmare.
For the fourth game in a row, the Mustangs came out of the gate out of sorts, accumulating five turnovers before scoring their first point.
“They want it, I know they want it,” Bycroft said. “But when we get to that point, for some reason, we have breakdowns mentally. We have mental toughness, we’ve shown that. However, there’s a second level of mental toughness that says you’ll continue to do things correctly, regardless of the situation. That’s the one that we’re still working on.”
Iola trailed 11-9 after the first quarter and seemed poised to follow down the same frustrating path for the fourth straight time.
However, something clicked.
Twelve straight points for the Mustangs allowed Iola to roar to a 30-23 lead into the half and Iola stretched its lead to as much as 14 points in the third quarter.
Aside from four shots falling from beyond the arc, Bycroft attributes the run, in part, to the Mustangs’ strong rebounding effort.
“It was a pretty physical game and I thought we handled that pretty well,” Bycroft said. “It wasn’t necessarily out on the perimeter but it was there when we were rebounding the ball. We went into the half with 12 boards and came out the other end with 37 total. Very strong night for us.”
That’s when the wheels started to come off.
Where the Mustangs could’ve put Prairie View completely away, they didn’t. Iola allowed the Buffalos to get close enough to be a problem cutting the lead to seven with a last second three to end the game.
“It’s a lack of composure,” Bycroft said. “And it’s frustrating. We need to have the mindset where when we’re up 10, 12, 15, whatever, we’re still taking care of the ball and making smart decisions. There’s no relaxing. We have to keep playing the way we’re supposed to play.”
Help may be on the horizon for the Mustangs. Senior Cale Barnhart and junior Dereck Bycroft — who have been out with injuries — may be back on the court soon for an Iola team that needs a steady hand or two carrying the basketball if they want to find consistent success once again.
Bycroft does know one thing though after his team’s up-and-down performance. His patience with his team’s adjustment to injuries is thinning quickly. A reckoning may soon be on the way.
