YATES CENTER — The Yates Center Mid-Season Classic didn’t start the way the Iola High School girls had hoped. The Mustangs fell 49-25 to St. Paul. The Mustangs got off to a sluggish start and soon found themselves down 6-0 before Iola could score their first points. Iola was outrebounded and allowed St. Paul too many second-chance shots. Iola’s defense improved toward the end of the first, but the offense remained stagnant. None of Iola’s normal contributors could get the ball rolling early. St. Paul executed their defensive assignments almost perfectly all night. Turnovers began to rear their ugly head for the Mustangs at the start of the second quarter. St. Paul took advantage and went on a 16-5 run in the second. Iola couldn’t find open shots and eventually that dug a hole for the Mustangs. St. Paul led 22-7 at the half. Turnovers continued to haunt Iola in the second half, allowing St. Paul to take a 20-point lead early in the third. Iola scratched and clawed at the Indians’ lead but inconsistent play buried their chances. One of the big keys for Iola, Aysha Houk, was silenced by the Indian defense. St. Paul held Houk scoreless throughout the game. St. Paul stretched the lead toward the end of the game but was never able to trigger a running clock, coming short of the 30-point threshold needed. The Indian defense held Iola scorers out of double-digits and did the best job of any team so far this year of locking down Josie Plumlee, who was held to seven points with one of those coming via a free throw. “It was a tough loss because defensively I thought we played really well,” said IHS head coach Kelsey Johnson. “St. Paul was just really good offensively. If we had one breakdown they scored.” IOLA (2-5-8-10—25) (FG/3pt) Plumlee 3-1-1-7 Houk 0-0-2-0 Sell 1-0-2-2 Miller 0-6-2-6 J. Curry 1-0-4-2 R. Curry 3-0-4-6 Shelby 2-0-0-2 TOTALS: 9-7-15-25 ST. PAUL (6-16-8-17—49) (FG/3pt) E. Doherty 7/2-4-0-20 Winter 0-1-0-1 Albertini 0-0-2-0 J. Harris 3-2-0-8 Bradshaw 1/1-1-4-4 Struthers-O’Brien 6/1-0-4-13 Chambers 1-1-1-3 On Thursday, Iola plays Yates Center at 6:30. St. Paul will play Cherryvale, also at 6:30.
YATES CENTER — The Yates Center Mid-Season Classic didn’t start the way the Iola High School girls had hoped. The Mustangs fell 49-25 to St. Paul.
