Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade Ponies never wavered at home Monday in their final middle school basketball game.
They led 4-0 at the end of the first quarter and were in front of visiting Parsons Middle School’s girls 4-3 at halftime. When the teams headed into the fourth quarter, they were locked in an 8-8 tie.
“It was a great way for this group of kids to finish their middle school career. They played hard all night and kept scratching until they won,” said Marty Taylor, IMS head basketball coach.
The Pony girls outscored the Viking girls 8-5 in the final period to net a 16-13 victory.
“This team deserves a lot of credit. They came to practice every day, win or lose, and tried to get better. They have improved about as much as any group I’ve had,” Taylor said.
Jo Lohman paced the Ponies with 13 points and three rebounds. Kyra Moore had two points and five rebounds. Emery Driskell pulled down 13 rebounds while Addie Haar had 10 rebounds and one point.
The IMS seventh-grade A-team took a 7-6 first-quarter lead but Parsons took a 13-7 lead by intermission. Iola couldn’t catch up, losing the season finale 24-14.
Taylor Sell fired in six points and controlled eight rebounds for Iola. Mikaela Platt added five points. Ashlie Shields pulled down five rebounds and had two points. Taylor Heslop had one point.
“The girls played hard and hung in there all night. This group improved just about every game and never stopped working,” Taylor said.
Iola won a combined eighth-seventh-grade B-team game, 15-8. The teams were tied 2-2 at halftime.
Micaiah Larney led Iola with four points and Hannah Stout added three. Scoring two points each were Chelsea Lea, Claire Morgan, Bobbie Sinclair and Hannah Ingle.
IMS 8th girls win finale
