Scoring only two points and missing a buzzer beater for the win against Prairie View was still fresh in the mind of Iola High’s Landon Carson.
On Friday against Anderson County, Carson flipped the script, scoring a team-high 32 points and leading the Mustangs to a bounce back 77-59 victory.
“I couldn’t hit a shot on Tuesday, it was rough,” Carson said. “It was a frustrating loss against Prairie View, so we decided to practice hard during the week, and it showed on the court tonight.”
It didn’t take long for Carson to find his rhythm. A steal in the backcourt for a bucket was followed by a block on one end and finish on the other. On Iola’s next possession, he connected from deep to force an Anderson County timeout with Iola up 14-3 in the first period.
Carson scored 13 straight points in the first before Leonard ended the streak with a corner trey to close the first quarter. Iola led 23-5 at the end of the period.
“Landon in practice the past two days has been an absolute animal, which is not in his normal practice approach,” Iola head coach Luke Bycroft said. “He has been physical, aggressive, and it came to the game tonight.”
The Bulldogs answered with a 10-0 run to start the second quarter. Iola didn’t get on the board until 3:30 left in the half when Cal Leonard connected on his third 3-pointer of the evening. Leonard finished with 17 points, and Iola stayed ahead by double digits at the half, 32-21.
Iola continued to add to its lead in the third. Calvin Delich knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing, and Carson fired a pair of long-range bombs to put the Mustangs ahead by 17. Delich scored seven in the period to help Iola hold a 48-32 lead after three.
In the fourth, the Bulldogs battled their way back within eight after engineering a 12-2 run in the opening minutes of the period. Carson gave Iola its double-digit lead once more with a steal for the easy layup, and three-point play, putting Iola ahead 59-46 with just over four minutes remaining.
“We had a big lead, then we relaxed, and we have to get over that, we have to correct that,” Bycroft said. “They had a little bit of momentum, then Landon got a few steals and layups in a row that completely changed where we were. “
The win puts Iola at back over .500 in league play at 5-4. The Mustangs will travel to Osawatomie on Tuesday, and conclude the regular season at Wellsville and Santa Fe Trail the following week.
Box Score
Iola (23-9-16-29—77) (pts): Bycroft 6, Leonard 7, Cole 9, Carson 32, Delich 13.
Anderson County (5-16-11-27—50) (pts): Garett 13, Derek 10, Josh 2, Reece J. 10, Reece K. 15, Dalton 9.
