It seemed as if the Fillies ran out of steam Monday night in their 43-31 loss to Girard.
They went step-for-step with Lady Trojans for the first half. But in third quarter Girard scored as many points as Iola did all night.
“We just couldn’t make a basket,” Carlson said. “Even the good looks we had wouldn’t go in. Our effort was great tonight both rebounding and defensive-wise. But we’ve got to find a way to score.”
Iola struggled early, scoring only a single bucket (a 3-pointer) throughout the majority of the first before junior Macayla Bycroft hit her second and senior Colbi Riley nailed a buzzer beater from just past half-court to tie up the game at nine.
Girard got wise to the Fillies outside shooting ways after that, not allowing a single three for the rest of the night.
“We were trying but we just couldn’t get it out there,” Carlson said. “Our game plan was to pound it in, reverse the ball and kick it out. But gosh darn, they were so quick that they got out there before our feet got set and I think we missed some shots because of that.”
Both teams went shot-for-shot in the second quarter and went into the half tied up at 17.
The back-and-forth continued for the first couple minutes of the second half but Girard really started to lock down defensively led by senior Sydnee Crain who had 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter with a lot of those coming on fastbreak layups after getting her hands into the Iola passing lanes.
“She’s really good,” Carlson said. “I don’t think you can watch on game film and see how quick she is but she anticipates and we didn’t see her coming.
For the majority of the first half, Carlson had both Moore and sophomore point guard Kelsey Morrison in the game together which seemed to really help slow the Trojan offense in the third quarter Morrison had to sit due to playing time rules.
“(Junior Piper Moore) was in foul trouble so I put her in,’ Carlson said. “But then I had to pull her because she played three quarters of JV. It looks stupid but we couldn’t play her. But I liked her aggressiveness.”
Iola was able to rein Girard in a little in the fourth quarter but not enough to get back in it.
Junior Ellie Carson continues to be the leading force on the offensive end for Iola, scoring a team-high eight. It marks the third-straight game where she’s led the Fillies in scoring.
“She’s very steady,” Carlson said. “She got a little bit frustrated tonight. I like her aggressiveness. She has one gear and that’s to the basket.”
Even with the loss, Carlson likes the steady improvement her team is making. The upcoming break will be huge as far as keying in on little things that the Fillies allow that let teams pull away.
“I feel like we’re moving forward,” Carlson said. “We need to definitely keep working on our press break and taking care of the ball. With that, we’ll have a chance to score a few more baskets. Also, when a team makes an announcement, we also need to learn to adjust and respond.”
The Iola girls are now 2-5 and 1-2 in Pioneer League play.
JUNIOR VARSITY AND FRESHMEN RESULTS
The junior varsity girls beat Girard 23-20 and were led by Kendra Sprague who had five and four other Fillies who had four points. The Freshmen girls lost 39-18 but came back from being down 21-3 at halftime. Hannah Gardner had a team-high 10 points followed by seven for Lauryn Holloway.
VARSITY BOX SCORES
Iola (9-8-8-6—31) (2pt/3pt-FT-F-TP) Carson 4/0-0-2-8, Holloway 0/2-0-3-6, Riley 1/1-0-2-5, Bycroft 1/0-2-2-4, Bauer 1/0-1-0-3, Sutterby 0/0-3-0-3, Morrison 2/0-0-1-2, Moore 0/0-0-2-0. TOTALS 8/3-6-12-31.
Girard (9-8-14-12-43) (2pt/3pt-FT-F-TP) Crain 9/0-2-0-18, Flaharty 3/0-1-1-7, Bailey 4/0-0-3-8, Sands 3/0-0-1-6, Coester 1/0-1-0-3, Ferguson 0/0-1-0-1, Gardner 0/0-0-2-0, Worrell 0/0-0-1-0, Smith 0/0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 20/0-3-11-43.
PHOTO: Sophomore guard Kelsey Morrison looks past a Girard defender in Monday’s 43-31 loss. REGISTER/TIM EVERSON
