Going for a fourth win on the night, Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade A-team girls had a solid start to its game against visiting Anderson County Junior High Monday.
But after a 6-2 lead in the first quarter, the Ponies were outscored 30-14 over the next three periods. The Bulldogs downed the Ponies 32-20 to take one win home out of four games.
“We came out and played a very good first quarter but as things got tight we went back to some bad habits and it hurt us,” said Marty Taylor, IMS head coach, of the IMS eighth-grade A-team game. “Ten rebounds as a team shows our effort was not good enough tonight.”
Iola trailed Anderson County 10-7 at halftime. The Bulldogs pulled away on a 13-4 run in the third quarter.
Mikaela Platt led Iola with eight points and four rebounds. Elise Wolf scored six points. Taylor Heslop added two points and had three rebounds while Taylor Sell had two points and one rebound. Olivia Bannister and Makayli Cleaver each scored one point.
Iola’s seventh-grade A-team broke out of the gate for a 14-1 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Anderson County came back a bit by halftime but Iola was up 23-11. Iola maintained through the second half for a 37-21 win.
“We had a rough patch for about two minutes in the second quarter but overall a very nice effort,” Taylor said.
Toni Macha fired in 13 points and cleared six rebounds for the Ponies. Sydney Wade tossed in 11 points. Alexis Heslop had seven points and seven rebounds and Riley Murry scored six points and grabbed four rebounds.
“Syd controlled the game for us. She had an excellent all around game. Lexi (Heslop) played much more focused tonight and did a good job,” Taylor said.
Iola’s seventh-grade B-team started the winning run with an 8-5 victory. Breckon Sutherland and Taylor Stout each tossed in four points.
The Ponies ran away with the eighth-grade B-team game, 20-8, with a balanced attack. Scoring four points each were Cassie Delich, Taelyn Sutterby, Cleaver and Cloey Burris. Micaiah Larney and Bannister each had two points.
Iola’s teams travel to Chanute to play Royster Middle School Thursday.
IMS girls win three of four
