Oh, so close — Mustangs come up short against top seed Sabetha

BURLINGTON — Iola High’s Mustangs threw all of their early-season struggles out the window Friday evening, and in so doing, gave unbeaten Sabetha everything it wanted and more.
And even with a handful of costly turnovers down the stretch, the Mustangs still had a shot at the tie.
Iola’s Brett Taylor, simply attempting to commit a foul in the waning seconds, suddenly came up with the steal in the Mustangs’ forecourt with Iola trailing by 3, 47-44.
Taylor raced to the goal and was fouled by a Sabetha defender as he put up the shot.
The ball rolled off the back of the rim.
Had it dropped, Taylor’s subsequent free throw with 11 seconds left would have knotted the score. Instead, all it did was pull Iola within 2, 47-45. (He missed his second free throw attempt.)
Sabetha’s Alec Kirwan then drained a pair of free throws with 7.6 seconds left to seal the 49-45 win.
The loss, coming in the first round of the Burlington Invitational Tournament, drops Iola (1-8) into the consolation bracket. Iola will take on Manhattan Job Corps Center today at 4:45 p.m. in the Burlington Middle School gymnasium.
“We played hard and smart,” Mustang head coach Jay Applegate said. “But the turnovers were what beat us.”
The loss came despite a dazzling scoring performance by Iola’s Isaiah Fawson, who drained five 3-pointers — three in the fourth quarter alone — on the way to scoring 23 points.
“Isaiah did a good job of being patient and waiting for his shot,” Applegate said. Likewise, his teammates were more patient and willing to share the ball than they had been in the past.
Part of that may have been out of necessity.
Sabetha, ranked second in Kansas Class 3A, sports a bruising frontcourt with six players 6-3 or taller.
To counter, the Mustangs repeatedly worked the ball around the perimeter. Crisp passes, invariably, led to open looks from the outside.
However, the not-so-crisp passes led to turnovers, particularly down the stretch.
Iola committed five turnovers in a three-minute span in the fourth quarter after Fawson’s 3-pointer gave Iola its first lead of the game, 38-37, with 7:38 left in regulation.
Sabetha’s Calder Keehn scored on consecutive possessions to give the Bluejays a 41-38 lead. Another Iola turnover led to Brock Frey’s 3-pointer and a 44-38 Bluejay advantage.
Fawson responded with a 3-pointer of his own with 4:30 left to slice the lead to three. He repeated the feat about 2½ minutes later, cutting the Sabetha lead to 47-44.
Ethan Holloway corralled a steal to end Sabetha’s next possession, but a pair of shots came up empty for the Mustangs, giving possession back to Sabetha, and setting up the frantic finish.
Twice earlier, Sabetha looked to have things in control before Iola responded in kind.
The Bluejays led 9-2 before Fawson sandwiched 3-pointers around another long jumper. Ethan Sigg’s putback in the waning seconds of the first quarter tied the score, 16-16.
Sabetha jumped back in front with six straight points to open the second quarter. Zach Cokely ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Mustangs. Ethan Holloway hit a pair of free throws, and Ben Cooper’s steal and layup pulled Iola to within 25-22 late in the half.
Sabetha put together a 10-2 run to push its lead into double digits, but only briefly. Cooper scored in a drive to trigger a 9-2 Iola run, capped by Joey Zimmerman’s 3-pointer to end the third period.
Applegate said he was pleased with Iola’s play against a taller opponent, adding that it was important to build off this performance.
“If we can play like this, smart and hard, we’ll win some games,” he said.
Holloway finished with 8 points, and Cooper with 6.
Kirwan scored 15 and Frey 14 to lead Sabetha. Keehn followed with 12.
Iola (16-6-13-10—45) (FG/3pt): Zimmerman 0/1-0-0-3, Cooper 3-0-2-6, Fawson 3/5-2-4-23, Taylor 0-1-3-1, Holloway 3-2-1-8, Sigg 1-0-3-2, Cokely 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 11/6-5-14-45.
Sabetha (16-15-6-12—49) (FG/3pt): Montgomery 3-1-3-5, Frey 0/4-2-1-14, Kierwan 3/1-6-0-15, Strahm 0-1-1-1, Jackman 1-0-0-2, Keehn 6-0-2-12.  TOTALS: 12/5-10-7-49.