Playing their final game at home Monday, Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade A-team broke open a close game with an 18-7 run in the fourth quarter. The Ponies posted a 39-30 win over visiting Pittsburg Community Middle School’s Dragons.
The Dragons had the edge in the first half leading 9-5 at the end of the opening period. The Ponies outscored the Dragons 7-5 in the second quarter to trail 14-12 at intermission.
Iola and Pittsburg played even, 9-9, in the third stanza. That left the Dragons in front by two, 23-21, before the Ponies’ stretch run.
“Just a very solid team effort. We took the ball to the hole strong and got to the line, that was the difference in the game,” said Marty Taylor, Ponies’ head coach.
“We never panicked. We just kept clamping down on defense and being aggressive on offense. They were much bigger than us at every position and we just never let them get comfortable on offense.”
Drew Faulhaber fired in 15 points and had seven rebounds. Isaiah Grover added nine points and controlled six rebounds. Kaden Macha scored eight points and claimed eight rebounds.
Alex Bauer also pulled down eight rebounds and added six points. Travis Hermstein had one point and one rebound.
Pittsburg won the eighth-grade B-team game 33-21. Matt Jacobs led the Ponies with nine points followed by Hermstein with six. Wyatt Hines and Adam Peterson each had two points while Tyler Holloway and Kaleb Mock had one point apiece.
The eighth-grade Ponies play at the Winter Classic Saturday in Pittsburg.
Iola’s seventh-grade teams finished up their season at home Monday.
In the A-team contest, a shooting slump in the third quarter hampered the Ponies and they lost 38-22. They had clawed back from a 5-1 first-quarter deficit to trail 15-9 at halftime.
The Dragons outscored the Ponies 13-3 in the third quarter. Each team scored 10 points in the final period.
“We had a tough spot in the third that we missed 12 straight shots in the paint but other than that the kids really gave a good effort,” Taylor said. “This team improved more than any team I’ve had. It’s just a blue-collar group of kids that’s great to be around.”
Keanan Badders paced the Ponies with nine points and 11 rebounds. “Keanan did a great job inside for us,” Taylor said.
Brice Aiello chipped in with six points and seven rebounds. Gus Hopkins also grabbed seven rebounds and scored two points. Brett Taylor had four points, five rebounds and dished out four assists. Ethan Sigg had five rebounds and one point.
Iola’s Mason Key hit two of three free throws with less than five seconds left in regulation to tie the seventh-grade B-team game, 19-19. Pittsburg got the only basket of the overtime period to win 21-19.
Key ended up with five points while Sager Pater scored six points. Isiah Shaughnessy tossed in four points. Ankit Gandhi and Trevor Cox had two points apiece.
IMS eighth-grade A-team beats Pittsburg
