OSAWATOMIE — Iola High’s Fillies found Murphy’s Law early Friday in their road tilt at Osawatomie.
If something could possibly go wrong in the first half, it did.
The Fillies were plagued with turnovers and cold shooting, while the host Trojans were shooting lights out.
Osawatomie scored the game’s first 10 points and never looked back in a 67-35 victory.
The loss drops Iola to 0-3 on the season.
“It didn’t work out the way we expected,” Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson said. “We got ourselves in a hole. The pressure hurt us, and we didn’t adjust well.”
And while the Fillies struggled mightily on offense, Osawatomie clicked inside and out, particularly in the first half.
The Trojans connected four times from beyond the arc in the first quarter in racing to a 25-9 lead.
Osawatomie’s Amiah Simmons was a particularly sharp thorn in Iola’s side.
The senior transfer from Blue Valley scored 10 in the opening frame.
Lauryn Holloway banked in a 3-pointer for Iola’s opening salvo, then Aysha Houk connected from beyond the arc later in the period.
But by then, Osawatomie was well on its way to a 25-9 lead after one.
The onslaught continued into the second quarter. The Trojans stayed hot from outside, and raced to a 45-11 lead late in the half.
If there was a silver lining, it was that the Fillies were able to right their ship late in the half, and largely stayed toe-to-toe with the Trojans the rest of the night.
Houk and Kailey Schinstock scored back-to-back buckets to end the half. Becca Sprague then opened the third quarter with a basket. Holloway’s second 3-pointer of the night then trimmed the deficit to 48-20.
Reserves Maci Miller and Jenna Curry helped matters late in the third by combining for six points, then Josie Plumlee ended the quarter with a basket, but by then it was too little, too late.
Johnson switched from a zone defense to man-to-man in the second half, another factor in Iola’s improved play.
