POMONA — If only for a brief moment, Iola High’s Fillies showed they can be a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court.
Some early hot shooting by Sidney Shelby and aggressive play inside by Becca Sprague had the Filles up 13-9 near the end of the first quarter.
Alas, many of the same issues perplexing the Fillies squad — turnovers and inconsistent shooting — reared their heads again Tuesday in a 46-28 loss.
West Franklin’s Allison Swank beat the first-quarter buzzer with a shot to pull the Falcons within one, then opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to put West Franklin on top, 14-13.
Suddenly, Iola’s offense went cold.
The Falcons outscored Iola 12-4 in the second quarter and 14-5 in the third to take control.
“We really came out a lot better, which was our focus,” IHS head coach Kelsey Johnson said. “But then we let up a little.”
And that was all it took for West Franklin to take control.
Unofficially, the Fillies turned the ball over 10 times in the third period alone, and multiple jump shots bounced off the rim on multiple occasions.
“It’s hard,” Johnson said. “They’re taking good shots, shooting when they’re open. The shots just aren’t falling.”
And with the Fillies in the midst of playing seven games in 11 days, there’s been precious little practice time for Iola’s weary warriors.
They’ll get two practices today and Thursday before games Friday night at home against Chanute and Saturday afternoon against Prairie View.
Shooting drills will be a part of the practice regimen.
Shelby’s hot hand gave Iola the early edge. She connected on two straight 3-pointers to erase a 4-0 deficit. Sprague then forced her way inside repeatedly. And while her shots weren’t falling, she was able to get to the free throw line with aplomb. She was 5 of 7 from the line in the first quarter and 2 of 4 in the second, with a couple of other buckets along the way.
She wound up with 15 points, Shelby added eight.
