Fillies falter at home to snap winning streak

Santa Fe Trail snapped Iola's three-game winning streak with a 38-26 victory over the Fillies on Monday night.

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Sports

February 5, 2020 - 10:15 AM

Becca Sprague shoots over Santa Fe Trail’s Courtney Stone on Monday versus the Chargers. Photo by Erick Mitchell

The Iola Fillies moved back to .500 (7-7) with a 38-26 loss against Santa Fe Trail in Monday night’s Pioneer League Contest. 

Iola earned back-to-back wins last week on Thursday at Chanute and Friday against Osawatomie, but couldn’t find the needed focus to replicate a winning performance versus the Chargers. 

“We just get a little panicky, but we play hard,” Iola head coach Becky Carlson said. “I was looking for a spark tonight, but we just didn’t have one.”

Sante Fe Trail opened the first quarter with a 3-pointer that was soon canceled out by a 3-point play from Becca Sprague. Iola had its opportunities to get on the board early on, snagging 4 offensive rebounds in the first half of the period, but the Fillies simply could not get shots to fall. 

The Fillies and Chargers exchanged the lead three times in the first. The Fillies trailed 11-8 heading into the second quarter, 

A clever euro-step finish from Kelsey Morrison got the Fillies on the board in the second, but the Chargers constructed a small 7-0 run to create a 10-point cushion midway through the quarter. Gabby Richards and Becca Sprague scored the other two Filly buckets in the second to trail 14-20 at intermission. 

Santa Fe Trail’s Courtney Stone was a tall task to handle in the paint. The 5-11 junior finished with 12 points in the first half, and 23 in the contest. 

“We tried to pack it in, and I thought Lauryn (Holloway) did a great job guarding her at first,” Carlson said. “Then I switched her and Becca because Lauryn did such a great job on defense against her. She was just really hard to stop.”

After the Chargers grew their lead to nine, the Fillies fought back with a basket from Holloway and another crafty finish from Morrison, making the score 25-20 halfway through the third. While Iola came within three, they trailed by five heading into the fourth. 

In the fourth, Iola’s offense ran cold. A turnover in the back court led to an easy Charger bucket, giving Santa Fe Trail its largest lead of the game. The Fillies failed to score until Chloe Sell came in for the cramping Sprague to knock down two free throws with 12 seconds remaining in the game. 

Iola’s three-game winning streak came to an end, losing 38-26. 

Sprague finished as Iola’s leading scorer with 9 followed by Morrison with six. Holloway, Sell, Richards, Eylsia Kunkler and Kailey Shinstock chipped in 2 points along with Hannah Gardner scoring 1. 

“We can’t dwell on this too much because we want to come back and beat Burlington,” Carlson said. “We are just going to play good D, and hopefully we get back on track offensively.”

The Fillies lost to the Wildcats 44-36 last time around on Dec. 17, but will get the chance to rewrite the script on Friday at home. Tip-off between Iola and Burlington is scheduled for 6 p.m. 

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