GARNETT — Moving forward and making progress are important parts of learning to win basketball games. Iola High’s Mustangs saw that happen in Tuesday’s opening-round game of the Anderson County High Invitational tournament.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs did not get the win. Baldwin High’s Bulldogs were just a little bigger in a game of teams looking for their first win of the season. The Bulldogs beat the Mustangs 57-42.
“This was a step forward for us tonight. We sustained our focus much better in the second half than we did Friday night,” said Bill Peeper, Mustang head coach. “We were down by seven points at halftime just like Friday but came out and played with much better intensity.”
Baldwin was up 27-20 at halftime and Iola had faced a 26-19 halftime deficit at Osawatomie Friday night. That night, the Mustangs scored only seven points in the second half.
Not so Tuesday. Iola cut the margin to four when Levi Ashmore nailed a three-pointer at the 6:52 mark of the third quarter. That was as close as Iola got in the second half.
The Mustangs just could not shut down the bigger Bulldogs. Caleb Gaylord and Dayton Valentine, a pair of sophomores at 6-4 and 6-2, did the damage inside.
Gaylord and Valentine combined for 27 of Baldwin’s 57 points. Valentine came off the bench to take the place of 6-8 senior Justin Vander Tuig, who injured his hand in the first half.
Iola led 6-4 on consecutive three-pointers by Clint Heffern with 6:32 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs scored three straight baskets to regain the lead.
A basket by Charles Apt at the 4:08 mark of the first quarter got the Mustangs to within two, 10-8. No more points were scored until Baldwin’s Kyle Pattrick drilled a trey with 6:42 left in the second quarter.
Ashmore’s first three of the night for the Mustangs made it 15-11. Iola closed to within three points, 18-15 when Braden Larson scored on the inside and Heffern dropped in two free throws.
That was with 4:29 remaining in the first half. Baldwin bumped its lead back up to nine points and controlled the seven-point halftime advantage.
“We talked about coming back out and staying competitive and challenging Baldwin. We did a better job rebounding in the second half but mistakes like 20-some turnovers and going 10 of 25 at the free-throw line will eat you up,” Peeper said.
Iola trailed by 10 going into the fourth quarter, 40-30. A five-point outburst by Apt around the 5:30 mark got the deficit to eight, 47-39.
Gaylord and Valentine took over again down low for six straight points. Plus Apt fouled out with 2:26 left.
“Charles, Braden and Corey Taylor all worked hard inside and posted up pretty well. We did a better job of getting it to them,” Peeper said.
Peeper pointed out that Apt and Jerrik Sigg stepped up and took charging fouls against Baldwin. Apt finished with 15 points and four rebounds while Sigg had four rebounds and six points.
Heffern scored nine points and had two steals.
Iola (0-2) plays Burlington at 6:45 p.m. at the Garnett Elementary School Thursday. Play concludes on Friday, time and place is determined by the outcomes of Thursday’s pool games.
Baldwin (1-2 was led by Gaylord with 16 points and Valentine with 11. The Bulldogs were 7 of 11 at the free-throw line.
Iola (8-12-10-12—42) (FG/3-pt): Heffern 0/2-3-3-9, Ashmore 0/2-0-0-6, Coons 1-0-0-2, Sigg 3-0-2-6, Taylor 0-2-3-2, Larson 1-0-3-2, Apt 5-5-5-15. TOTALS: 10/4-10-16—42.
Baldwin (10-17-13-13—57) (FG/3-pt): Berg 2-1-4-5, Pattrick 3/1-0-3-9, Schroeder 0-0-3-0, Hannon 2-1-3-5, T. Brown 0-0-1-0 C. Brown 1/1-0-2-5, Kueffer 0-0-3-0, Duncan 0-2-0-2, Gaylord 7-2-2-16, Valentine 5-1-3-11, Vander Tuig 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 22/2-7-24-57.
Mustangs step forward in loss
