Iola Middle School girls basketball teams split a pair of games Thursday against Osawatomie. The seventh-grade varsity won 35-9. The eighth-grade varsity lost 17-16.
The seventh-grade team dominated in its best showing so far this season. The seventh-grade team has come close multiple times this season. A performance like this should give them a lot of confidence heading into a weekend tournament in Independence.
Brooklyn Holloway scored 14 points. Dally Curry scored 12 points. Zoie Hesse scored five points. Lynsie Fehr scored four points.
“I put a big emphasis on the girls having fun during the game,” said IMS head coach Cristy Turner. “I think they get worked up sometimes and miss the having fun aspect that should happen when playing the game. I thought they had a lot of fun tonight and it showed with how they played. Dally Curry had a big game and had the first eight points of the game quickly in the first quarter. We won the effort plays tonight and that is always nice. They worked hard on defense and we tried some new things with pressuring the offense and I thought the girls did a good job with it. We hope to continue to build and be playing our best basketball to finish the season.”
The eighth-grade team lost in a heartbreaker with a second left.
Lily Lohman scored six points. India Barney scored five points. Bethany Miller scored four points. Tessa Brutchin scored one point.
“We were up by three with 28 seconds left in the game,” Turner said. “Osawatomie went down and banked in a three to tie it up with about 18 seconds left. I tried to get a timeout that didn’t get granted, we ended up turning the ball over and India Barney picked up her fifth foul to send them to the line for one and one. They hit the first one to win the game with four seconds left. The girls haven’t been in a situation like that in their basketball careers yet and it was a good experience for them. I think they are learning a lot and we are excited to get another chance at Osawatomie the Monday after Thanksgiving break.”
