ALTAMONT — Iola High’s Mustangs were caught in a bear trap Tuesday night.
Labette County High’s Grizzlies never allowed the visiting Mustangs to get comfortable in their final Southeast Kansas League game in the LCHS gym. The Grizzlies turned a 7-0 start into a 64-44 victory.
Iola falls to 2-5 in SEK play and 9-10 overall. The Mustangs play their final SEK game ever Thursday at home when Independence High’s Bulldogs come to Iola.
The Bulldogs (13-6) lost their first league game Tuesday night, 49-45, to Parsons. Independence and Parsons are 6-1 in SEK play.
“We weren’t very good tonight. We had a total lack of effort and intensity. We’re struggling in a lot of ways,” said Bill Peeper, Mustang head coach.
“We were sloppy on defense and turned the ball over offensively. Our next five guys off the bench played just as well as our starters.”
Iola was within five points a couple times in the first quarter. A three-pointer by Clint Heffern made in 15-10. Iola made a run at the Grizzlies as the second quarter began.
Jerrik Sigg had the first basket then Braden Larson, who finished with 17 points, had two buckets. It was 18-16.
The Grizzlies left the Mustangs behind from there.
They rattled off nine straight to open a 16-3 run to a 34-19 halftime advantage.
Iola scored 16 points in the third quarter, but the Mustangs gave up 18 points to Labette County. The Grizzlies finished the game on a 12-9 run through the fourth quarter.
Labette County (3-5, 8-11) was paced by Lee Reliford, who came off the bench to score 14 points. Jonny Krewson added 13, followed by Zack Stewart with 12 and Tucker Thompson with 10. The Grizzlies cashed in 10 of 17 free throw attempts.
Iola was 8 of 14 from the line. Trent Latta, Mikal Bossell and Corey Taylor combined to go 6 of 6 in the third quarter. The trio along with Mason Coons, who had four points, came off the bench for Iola.
“We have to play better and to do so we have to have higher expectations of ourselves and put in the work to be better,” Peeper said.
It was the final game to count for Class 4A substate tournament seedings. The Mustangs are in the Louisburg substate. Seedings and pairings will be released later today.
