YATES CENTER — Iola High School boys basketball team took on Anderson County with third place in the mid-season classic on the line. While the Mustangs put up a fight, they came up just a bit short, losing 39-37 on Friday night.
Anderson County started on a 5-0 run but Iola, propelled by Eli Adams, came back to go on a 10-0 run of their own, taking the lead in the process. Over the course of the run, Adams went coast to coast on a steal for a layup to energize the Mustangs and start the rally.
Adams also put in work on defense, as the Mustangs came out with a plan for Anderson County’s big man, Reece Katzer. Toward the end of the first quarter, Adams stole the ball once again and helped turn the takeaway into points for the Mustangs. At times in the first quarter, the Mustangs looked the best they have all season.
A three by Iola’s Landon Weide punctuated a great opening half for the Mustangs.
Iola held a 24-15 advantage at the half.
The second half, however, was a different story. This time, it was the Bulldogs going on a big 10-3 run to open the half. The run wasn’t enough to take the lead though as Iola held a two-point lead going into the fourth.
The Mustangs then began to let the win slip away. Turnovers gave Anderson County a chance to take the lead early in the fourth but Iola held onto hope down the stretch.
The Mustangs looked to have one final shot, down 39-37, with just ticks left on the clock, but a turnover near their bucket cost them any chance of putting up a potential game-winning shot.
Iola played more physically in the game than they have recently and Tyler Boeken was perfect from the free throw line, hitting all four of his shots.
“We played really hard tonight,” said Iola head coach Luke Bycroft. “We had a great first half. We really defended well and rebounded well. We had a lull in the third quarter when we only scored three points. Most of that was because we didn’t finish and didn’t take care of the ball.”
Iola is off until next Friday when they travel to Chanute. The freshman team will play Monday in Iola’s freshman tournament against Fort Scott High School.
IOLA (16-8-3-10—37) (FG/3pt) Weide 4/2-0-1-10 Adams 1-0-2-2 Fager 2-1-1-5 Carson 1-1-2-3 Riley 2-0-4-4 Leonard 0-1-0-1 Boeken 4-4-4-12 TOTALS: 14/2-7-14-37
ANDERSON COUNTY (10-5-10-14—39) (FG/3pt) Martin 1-0-0-2 Rockers 4/3-0-3-11 Belcher 0-3-2-3 Katzer 3-3-1-9 Register 0-0-1-0 Jarett 2/2-0-2-6 Peives 3/1-1-0-8 TOTALS: 13/4-7-9-39
