Reserves key Iola win, 53-52

GARNETT — Friday had the potential for disaster, Iola High boys head coach Bill Peeper told his team prior to tip-off.
But it also held the potential for several fresh faces to step into the limelight.
In what Peeper called one of his most gratifying wins in recent memory, the Mustangs received key contributions from seldom-used reserves to edge host Anderson County, 53-52.
The win keeps Iola above .500 at 7-6 on the season and pushes the Mustangs to 3-1 in Pioneer League play.
Victory didn’t come easy. Iola was dealing from a short deck at the outset, with four starters or key reserves missing in action.
That didn’t matter much to freshman Ben Cooper, who stepped to the free throw line with Iola on top, 51-49, with 44 seconds left — for his first free throw attempts of his high school career.
He coolly drained both, pushing the lead to four.
Iola’s defense took it from there, forcing a pair of Anderson County misses in the last 30 seconds. The Bulldogs’ Spencer Walter dropped in a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, good enough only to cut the deficit to one.
Iola’s starting lineup was without Tyler McIntosh and Kaden Macha, both of whom were out due to illness. Meanwhile, Jesse Zimmerman was held out of the game, and Trent Latta was benched for the first half, both due to disciplinary measures.
“Never in my 18 years of coaching have I had that many guys unavailable all at once,” Peeper said.
The Mustangs battled some early jitters. Twelve turnovers in the first quarter enabled Anderson County to take an 11-6 lead.
Senior forward Tyler Powelson took control in the second period. He scored 11 of Iola’s 15. Anderson County still led, 27-21, but the Mustangs were encouraged.
“Our thought was if we could keep it close until half-time, then we’d be in pretty good shape,” Peeper said.
Still, the Bulldogs led by as many as nine in the third quarter until Iola took its first lead since the opening seconds with an 11-0 spurt.
Adam Kauth scored inside, followed by a 3-point play by Bryan Mueller to cut Iola’s deficit to four. Then Adam Peterson took his turn in the spotlight with a pair of putbacks 40 seconds apart. His second knotted the score at 36-36. Kauth’s baseline drive capped the run.
Walter’s driving lay-up tied the score for Anderson County, only to be countered by Fryendz Wallace’s putback early in the fourth quarter to push Iola back up, 40-38. A Powelson bucket extended the lead to four.
The fun was just getting started. Latta drilled a 3-pointer with just under six minutes left for a 45-40 lead before Anderson County responded with a 7-0 run, the last two coming on a pair of Walter free throws to retake the lead.
Powelson tied the score with a putback before Latta gave Iola the lead for good with another trey at the 2:52 mark.
Missed free throws prevented Iola from extending its lead. The Mustangs missed 4 of 5 in one stretch, including twice misfiring on the front end of 1-and-1 attempts.
But Iola’s defense still kept Anderson County at a deficit.
Tanner Lickteig hit 1 of 2 charities that cut Iola’s lead to 51-49, then captured the ball on an errant Latta pass with 1:13 left. But Walter missed both free throws with a minute remaining, setting up Cooper’s clutch charities.
“We got a little bit from everybody,” Peeper said. “As happy as we were to get the win, we were happier for Ben. For somebody to step up like that was huge. Tyler Powelson played a great game. He knew we needed him to lead the way, and he did. Fryendz had some big plays, Adam Peterson’s baskets were huge. So were those 3-pointers from Trent.”
Powelson did everything but drive the bus home. He paced Iola with 22 points, nine rebounds, two steals, four assists and three blocks. Latta and Kauth scored eight apiece. Wallace had eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Kohl Endicott had three rebounds. Cooper also had three assists.
Walter paced Anderson County with 22.
Iola resumes play at home against Osawatomie Tuesday.
Iola (6-15-17-15—53)
Anderson Co. (11-16-9-16—52)
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Latta 1/2-0-2-8, Cooper 0-2-2-2, Mueller 2-1-0-5, Wallace 2-0-3-4, Endicott 0-0-3-0, Kauth 4-0-1-8, Powelson 9-4-3-22, Peterson 2-0-1-4. TOTALS: 20/2-9-15-53.
Anderson Co. (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Woodard 2-1-2-5, Lickteig 2-4-3-8, Ratliff 0-0-2-0, Hilliard 1/1-2-3-7, Comfort 2-0-2-4, Small 1-1-2-3, Rundle 1/1-0-4-5, Walter 3/4-2-2-20. TOTALS: 12/6-10-20-52.