YATES CENTER — Iola High School girls basketball team was part of history, just not in the way the Mustangs would have wanted. Iola lost to Marmaton Valley 50-36 as Marmaton Valley coach Becky Carlson celebrated her 500th win, defeating the team she coached to a state title in the process.
Marmaton Valley took over early, opening up on 4-0 run thanks to sharp shooting by Kendall Scharff. That lead would swell, as Iola sent Marmaton Valley’s Janae Granere to the line on a frequent basis. Granere carried the Wildcats, scoring 20 points.
Marmaton Valley controlled the game the whole way, taking advantage of mistakes by the Mustangs to charge ahead.
The Wildcat defense held Iola to only three points in the first quarter, all by Chloe Sell as the senior made a jumper and hit 1-2 from the free throw line.
Iola did a good job all game of holding Granere in check, forcing her to beat them from the free throw line, allowing her to only get five buckets in the game.
Even so, Marmaton Valley led 25-13 at the half.
The second half was much of the same. Iola tried to work themselves back into the game, but sloppy play and turnovers held them back. When the Mustangs did get good looks, the shots just weren’t falling.
Granere continued to dominate for Marmaton Valley, missing only one free throw in the second half. Granere was accompanied by Pauline Thery and Aly Ard, both were perfect from the line in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats closed out a huge win.
As the clock hit zero, Marmaton Valley players surprised Carlson with a special game ball and a banner celebrating her 500th win.
“We played a great game, so it feels pretty darn good,” Carlson said. “It wouldn’t have mattered who it was against, it’s just nice to win every time we can get one.”
Maci Miller led Iola’s charge late in the game, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter, also hitting 2-2 from the free throw line.
“I’m proud of my girls,” said Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson. “They played hard all game and never gave up. They played through a lot of adversity tonight so I’m really proud of them.”
Iola is off until next Friday when they travel to Chanute. The freshman team will play Monday in Iola’s freshman tournament against Frontenac.
IOLA (3-10-8-15—36) (FG/3pt) Houk 1/1-0-2-3 Plumlee 3-2-4-8 Boyd 2-0-1-4 Sell 2-3-2-7 Miller 4-2-3-10 J. Curry 1-0-2-2 R. Curry 1-0-1-2 Sturgeon 0-0-2-0 Shelby 0-0-1-0 TOTALS: 14/1-7-18-36
MARMATON VALLEY (13-12-13-12) (FG/3pt) Thery 3-2-0-8 P. Scharff 0-1-3-1 Ard 4-2-4-12 K. Scharff 4/1-0-2-9 Granere 5-10-4-20 TOTALS: 16/1-15-13-50.
