Tiger attack snaps Fillies’ win streak

A pair of critical stretches did in Iola High’s Fillies Monday evening.
The first started early in the second quarter, when visiting Fort Scott ran its way to a 16-0 run for a 28-9 lead.
The second came after Iola had clawed back to within nine by the midpoint of the fourth quarter. The Tigers scored the next seven over a three-minute stretch to put away a 48-31 victory.
The loss snaps Iola’s four-game winning streak and drops the Fillies to 9-7 overall.
The non-league affair had been postponed from Jan. 31 due to snowy weather.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome, but I’m not disappointed with our effort,” Fillies head coach Becky Carlson said. “They’re pretty good with their inside-outside game.”
The Tigers — the fifth-ranked Class 4A, Division I team in the state — did indeed post problems for Iola with a seemingly endless supply of powerful post players and opportunistic guards able to effectively get the ball inside.
Iola’s Emery Driskel scored inside with 6:06 left in the first half to pull Iola to within 12-9. Ashlie Shields scored on a fast-break layup on a nifty pass from Sydney Wade to beat the second-quarter buzzer.
But in between those two plays was all Fort Scott.
Seven different Fort Scott players scored during the ensuing 16-point outburst.
Iola responded in the second half.
Emma Piazza and Kyra Moore drained 3-pointers as part of a 12-4 Fillies run to cut the gap to 11, 34-23.
Fort Scott turned the ball over on its next two possessions before Toni Macha’s short jumper pulled Iola to within 34-25. Driskel scored less than a minute later to again cut the deficit to nine.
But Maddi Allen’s 3-pointer for the Tigers — Fort Scott’s only trey of the night — effectively killed Iola’s rally. Elisha Hasenplaugh’s bucket put the Tigers back in front, 43-27, with a little more than 3 minutes remaining.
“We only had 12 turnovers, which is a good number for us,” Carlson said. “We were getting good looks in the first half. We just couldn’t get those shots to fall. Emma stayed aggressive, and I thought Emery Driskel did a great job inside. Hannah Endicott did a good job on defense, and Lexie Long was aggressive.
“We looked a lot better in the second half,” she continued. “But you tend to look better when your shots are falling.”
Driskel and Piazza shared high-scoring honors with eight apiece for the Fillies. Wade pulled down four rebounds. Piazza also had three assists.
A balanced scoring attack paced Fort Scott with four players scoring eight, Allen, Hasenplaugh, Ashley Cook and Jillian Lattimore. Two others scored six.

FORT SCOTT prevailed in the junior varsity contest, 33-24. Taylor Sell led the Fillies with six points. Olivia Bannister chipped in with five and Shields had four. McKayli Cleaver and Macha had three apiece. Della Lohman scored two and Taelyn Sutterby had one.
Iola gets a quick turnaround for a home game tonight against Prairie View.
Fort Scott (10-18-6-14—48)
Iola (7-4-9-11—31)
Fort Scott (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Denton 2-2-1-6, Allen 2/1-1-2-8, Rienbolt 2-0-1-4, Hasenplaugh 4-0-0-8, Cook 4-0-2-8, Lawrence 2-2-1-6, Lattimore 3-2-2-8. TOTALS: 19/1-7-9-48.
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Long 0-0-3-0, Moore 0/1-0-1-3, Piazza 3/2-2-2-8, Shields 1-0-0-2, Endicott 0-0-1-0, Haar 0-2-2-2, Platt 0-0-1-0, Driskel 4-0-0-8, Macha 2-2-2-6. TOTALS: 8/3-6-12-31.