was a rough one.”
Iola struggled from the start with Independence holding them to a single field goal in the first quarter off a 3-pointer by junior guard Brooklyn Holloway, the first of her two successful shots beyond the arc.
A free-throw by freshman forward Cameron Wille, and a drive by junior forward Zoie Hesse was all Iola could manage until a buzzer-beating shot before halftime by junior forward Mahala Burris.
“Mahala went so hard all game,” Sigg said. “She got to stay in the game this time, because usually she’s in foul trouble. She has been working on it and been aware of it in practice more. It was nice to see her get a spurt like that.”
Freshman Haidyn Desmarteau warmed up in the second half, scoring half of her team-leading 8 points on a pair of fast-break layups off mid-court steals. Hesse was not far behind Desmarteau with five of her 7 points coming in the fourth quarter. Holloway finished third in scoring with 6 points, then Burris added one more bucket before the final buzzer for 4 points.
With the loss, the Mustangs fall to 4-12 overall and 3-4 in Pioneer League.
On Friday, the Mustangs play the Burlington Wildcats, who currently own the top spot in Pioneer League standings.
Iola faces Santa Fe Trail, who owns second place in the Pioneer League, Tuesday.
“We’re young, and they have to trust us on the X’s and O’s. They just have to bring the best out of themselves,” Sigg said. “We can’t try to keep drawing it out of them. Independence was a good team, but they had three seniors and a junior. They don’t realize that could be them next year. They could be a big threat, but we have to learn from games like this and not just roll over.”
Tip-off for both contests is at 6 p.m.
“Finishing our league will be tough,” Sigg said. “We just hope to get the wins we got before, and maybe a couple of more.”
