OSAWATOMIE — The Iola Mustangs picked up their second win in a row after handily defeating Osawatomie Thursday 57–17.
Thursday’s win puts the Mustangs at 9-8 overall with rival Chanute in town Friday and a road trip Tuesday to Prairie View, who is tied with Iola for third in the Pioneer Conference standings following the results of Thursday’s contest.
“We’re heading in the right direction,” said Iola coach Kelsey Johnson. “We have kind of been slowly moving up this whole time. Our big goal for this week is to win three games in a row. We’re just focusing on one game at a time. We haven’t really looked at Prairie View yet, but we will.”
While Iola’s offense deserves much of the credit for Thursday’s victory, the defense shouldered much of the load. The Mustangs held the Lady Trojans scoreless until the 6-minute mark in the second quarter after Osawatomie freshman forward Avaya O’Brien picked up a loose ball and found the basket.
“That was really our focus, too. That’s what sparks our offense, when we get defensive tips and steals and we get breakaways because our girls are fast and they’re athletic. If we can score out of transition, that really motivates our defense,” Johnson said. 
As for the Mustangs’ offense, seniors Harper Desmarteau and Reese Curry provided the Mustangs with a 1-2 punch for much of the game. The pair tied for the team lead in scoring with 12 points each. Iola was capable of running up the score, but Coach Johnson opted to pump the brakes in the second quarter with her team ahead 26-0.
“We just kept telling them, ‘I know we’re up and whatever, but it’s not about them. It’s about us. We have to prepare ourselves for the next game. So, the little things that we don’t do right now, like setting up in our half court offense, we did a lot of that tonight,” Johnson said.
Other offensive contributors included senior Alana Mader with 9 points, senior Elza Clift 8 and senior Kyndal Bycroft with 6.
IOLA’S junior varsity scored 16 points in a special four-on-four, two-quarter contest with a running clock. Dally Curry led Iola with 13 points, followed by Brooklyn Holloway with four and Mahala Burris with two. Stats for Osawatomie’s JV were unavailable.
Iola (20-16-17-4—57)
FG/3pt FT F TP
Holloway 1 0 2 2
D. Curry 0 0 2 0
Bycroft 3 0 0 6
Clift 2/1 1 1 8
Mader 4 1 2 9
Desmarteau 6 0 2 12
Burris 1 0 0 2
R. Curry 4/1 1 1 12
Crusinbery 2 0 0 4
Osawatomie (0-2-10-5—17)
Barnett 1/2 0 1 8
Brown 1 0 0 2
Crabtree 0 0 5 0
O’Brien 3 1 0 7
