Iola High’s Fillies came up a game short of making it to the Class 4A-II State Basketball Tournament. Iola fell to Girard 50-44 on Saturday, marking the end of their season and the careers of six seniors. Girard 50, Iola 44
Emery Driskel, Addie Haar, Jo Lohman, Lexie Long, Emma Piazza and Kyra Moore left the program in better shape than when they started. As sophomores two season’s ago, the team finished 2-17. Over the past two seasons, the team finished 26-17 and won the 2014 Pioneer League Title.
“They’ve got in the gym and worked,” coach Becky Carlson said. “They have turned our program around because they didn’t give up. They’re just really hard workers. I can’t say enough about every one of them.”
Although the season ended on a loss, the Fillies didn’t bow out quietly. After the first quarter, Iola trailed the Trojans 16-3 and things looked bleak. They had no answer for Girard’s 6-3 Ashley Ray, who scored with ease on the inside for 10 points in the first quarter.
But, the Fillies came out strong in the second to outscore Girard 15-6. Piazza hit a key 3-pointer with 55 seconds left in the half to pull Iola within four at 20-16 in Girard’s favor. Iola trailed 22-18 at halftime.
The Fillies officially completed the comeback when Mikaela Platt made both free throws of a one-and-one. It gave Iola its first lead of the game at 36-35 with five minutes left in the game. Haar lifted the Fillies to their largest lead of the game — three-points — at the 3:45 mark on another pair of free throws. Iola led 40-37 and Girard took a timeout.
The Trojans went back to what worked in the first quarter and fed Ray in the low-post. She scored six consecutive points for Girard to gain a 43-40 lead with 2:15 left to play. From that point forward, Girard controlled the game and lead by converting their free throws.
“It was a good game,” Carlson said. “It could have gone either way honestly. It was a great fight.”
Although the last-minute scoring surge stalled for Iola, the team played what Carlson described as their best game of the season. This came after limping into the sub-state tournament with losses to Wellsville and Santa Fe Trail.
“This was the best game I think we’ve played all year,” Carlson said. “Girard played well as well. I can’t take anything away from them. I felt that they did a great job on the inside. (Ashley Ray) took all of our focus.”
The senior leadership for Iola will be missed.
“Between their character on the court and what they add to the team and their support of each other and their teammates will be something that will really be missed,” Carlson said. “The good thing is that they’re such good role models. So, they’ve helped teach these girls how to be good leaders and teammates.”
From where they started just two years ago, Iola’s Fillies have little reason to hang their heads.
“They’ve had a lot of success and come up a long way from where they were,” Carlson said.
Iola (3-15-14-12-44) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Wade 2-3-3-7, Long 0-0-2-0, Piazza 0/1-1-1-4, Lohman 0/1-0-2-3, Shields 0-0-1-0, Haar 6-7-5-19, Platt 1-2-3-4, Driskel 1-1-1-3, Macha 2-0-1-4
Girard (16-6-13-15-50) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Hanson 3-1-3-7, Augustin 2-10-4-14, Gray 0-0-1-0, Murphy 0-0-3-0, Crain 1-0-2-2, Leslie 3-0-1-6, Ray 9-3-4-21, Herlocker 0-0-3-0
Fillies’ season ends after comeback falls short
