WELLSVILLE — Luke Bycroft isn’t much on moral victories. And falling by 17 isn’t what anyone would describe as a “close” loss.
But the manner in which Iola staged a ferocious comeback, on the road, against the first-place Wellsville Eagles, has the Mustang skipper upbeat about his squad’s future.
Iola dropped a 75-58 setback to Wellsville, falling to 2-13.
“You can’t be happy with a loss, but you can be proud of the way we competed,” Bycroft said. “Tonight was a building block. It’s a step.”
Wellsville’s blistering start threatened to make the game a runaway from the get-go.
The Eagles roared to a 15-2 lead midway through the first quarter, and led by as many as 26 before Iola slowly, but surely, stemmed the tide.
With Wellsville’s defense sagging inside to contain Iola senior Tyler Boeken, it left some openings on the outside, where Eli Adams was there to take advantage.
Adams drilled three 3-pointers, while scoring 11 points, eight in the third quarter alone.
And the aforementioned Boeken and Cooper Riley stayed relentless in attacking the basket in the second half, forcing a number of Wellsville players to the bench as they accumulated fouls.
The key, Bycroft said, was aggressiveness.
“For the most part we competed,” he said. “We played well. We were aggressive at the basket, and we didn’t turn the ball over. If you don’t turn it over, you give yourself a chance.”
Riley had a double-double — 10 points and 12 rebounds — while Boeken had 12 points and nine boards.
“Tyler does what Tyler does,” Bycroft said. “And Cooper was as aggressive as I’ve seen him. He really did a nice job.”
Not to be overlooked was sophomore guard Landon Weide, who scored 10 of his 14 in the second half.
“Landon was strong with the ball, and really forced them to change the way they guarded us,” Bycroft said. “It’s big for our guards to be confident like that.”
