Iola High’s Mustangs didn’t have their strongest season in recent memory. The Mustangs finished 4-17 this season after making it to the Class 4A-II State Tournament last year.
“We lost a lot of players from last year,” said Kaden Macha, a senior who was the only returning starter for this season.
“We didn’t expect a whole lot coming back to this year. But, we sure would have liked to do a lot better than we did,” Macha said.
This year’s Mustangs had six seniors: Macha, Alex Bauer, Kohl Endicott, Travis Hermstein, Adam Peterson and Shane Walden. Other than Macha, Peterson was the only player to see some playing time last season. He made the transition from a role-player to a starter.
“It was pretty big, I played none at substate last year and only a little bit at state,” Peterson said. “Going from part-time to starting center was kind of crazy at the beginning. But I got used to it and it wasn’t too crazy at the end.”
Shane Walden and Alex Bauer missed all of last season due to injuries. Hermstein and Endicott played sparingly.
“Shane gave us good minutes all year,” Macha said. “When Bauer got in, he always gave us 100 percent and good effort. He would take a hard foul. Kohl started and played pretty good for us all year. When Travis got in, he hit some threes. That was good for us all year.”
That made Macha the de facto leader of the team.
“I just felt like one of the only guys with experience,” Macha said. “So, it was kind of different. At the start of the year, it was a little rough — playing with kids with less experience.”
Coach Bill Peeper said he thought Macha did a good job of leading by example. After the team’s 64-61 loss to Santa Fe Trail during the Burlington Invitational on Jan. 24, Peeper had this to say about him:
“Kaden’s all over the place. He’s scrapping, clawing and fighting. We have lots of guys that will watch that, but for whatever reason not match that level of intensity,” Peeper said. “That’s not to say he doesn’t make mistakes because he does. But, you can never question his willingness to lay it all on the line, whether it hurts him or not. He throws his body around and gets beat up. We’re looking for that from other guys.”
In the 2013-14 season, the Mustangs didn’t finish above .500, but they won when it counted. They went into substate and beat Prairie View and Anderson County. They ended up losing in the first round of the state tournament to Andale 56-47 — one of the top-ranked teams in Kansas.
Macha said the state run was his favorite memory playing for Iola. Peterson enjoyed the experience too.
“I liked playing with friends, even though I really didn’t get that much playing time last year, it was nice to tag along,” Peterson said.
With the season over, each player was glad to have been a part of Mustang basketball.
“It was fun and my first year really getting to do it, so it was kind of new,” Peterson said. “It kind of sucks that it’s over now, but it was good while it lasted it.”
“It was enjoyable while it lasted it,” Macha said. “I didn’t necessarily enjoy the practices, but the games were always fun. But when you lose, it wasn’t always fun. We tried to have a good time with it.”
Peeper said he was proud of the way the players represented Iola.
“I told them that I’m proud of them as young men, how they conduct themselves, the attitudes they have and the way they work in the classroom,” Peeper said. “There’s so many things we can be proud of. We didn’t have a good basketball season. There’s many things we could of and should of done better. That’s on all of us, including me. At the end, I appreciate the way they represent us.”
Senior Mustangs experience career highs and lows
