NEODESHA In Iolas win over Cherryvale on Monday, when the game entered crunch time, the ball seemed to bounce their way.
On Tuesday, the Fillies (5-5) had to face the cold reality of the other side of that coin in their 40-35 loss to No. 10 in 2A Leon-Bluestem in the semifinal round of the Wilson County Classic.
We couldve given up but we really battled hard, head coach Becky Carlson said. Im proud of their effort but were all a little disappointed.
With 2:25 left in the game, junior Kelsey Morrison gave Iola its first lead with a three after three-plus quarters of playing catch-up.
The Fillies struggled offensively for most of the first half, falling behind 11-4 early and even further behind, 11 points, before the end of the half.
But a stranglehold of a defensive effort in the third quarter gave Iola the opportunity to catch back up.
We went from not being able to hit a shot in the first half to being able to slow them down enough to where they couldnt get any momentum, Carlson said. Especially in the third quarter, we got some easy baskets off their press and then we did a good job rebounding.
Iola held Bluestem to 24 points up until under the three-minute mark of the quarter. Meanwhile, the Fillies had gotten themselves back within two.
We just couldnt get the ball inside and then we werent hitting our outside shots, Carlson said. In the second half, we got some of those to fall and then things really started to open up for us.
The Fillies jockeyed behind Bluestem for most of the quarter until Morrisons shot. Even with their newfound lead, Iola struggled to maintain it and scored just one point in the final two minutes of the game.
Bluestem retook the lead after scoring four straight and despite the Fillies having multiple chances at a go-ahead lay-up with seconds left on the clock, the Lady Lions managed to hold out and clinch the win.
I cant fault anybody on our team, Carlson said. We just didnt finish.
Senior Ellie Carson led the Fillies with 14 including a huge eight points in the third quarter as part of Iolas comeback bid. Junior Kelsey Morrison had nine, sophomore Claudia Castellanos-Rodrigo had five, sophomore Becca Sprague had five and senior Madisyn Holloway had three.
The loss moves the Fillies into the third-place game versus a Girard team thats had success so far this season but hasnt reached the heights that theyve seen over the past few years.
Im excited to play them, Carlson said. It should be a good game.
