FORT SCOTT — Iola High boys coach Luke Bycroft wanted his team to fight until the final whistle no matter the score of the game.
That’s exactly what the Mustangs (3-4; 1-2) did at Fort Scott on Tuesday night when they scrapped but ultimately came up short at the end of regulation, 50-46. The Iola girls (1-6; 0-1) weren’t as fortunate as they dropped their matchup by a final score of 50-25.
Boys Basketball
Iola didn’t make it easy for Fort Scott (3-3) as both teams battled in a physical matchup which saw the teams rack up fouls and duke it out at the free throw line.
“I’ll go to battle for a team that fights that hard any night. That’s a team that makes me proud,” said Bycroft. “There’s things that we could’ve done better but none of that is as important as how hard they played. It’s the most important thing to me right now. If we play that hard, we can clean the other stuff up.”
Landon Weide and Eli Adams each dribbled underneath for layups in the first quarter, with Adams’ basket coming in transition following a Mustang steal. Mac Leonard also knocked down a pair of free throws to keep the score knotted at the end of the first quarter, 6-6. 
The Tigers received their early production off the fingers of Carter Goldston who buried a three-pointer in the opening minutes. Goldston’s basket was accompanied by Rocco Loffredo putting up a reverse layup to keep it a tight ballgame early on.
Leonard finished a couple of layups in the second quarter while Adams went underneath for another layup and also hit five shots from the free throw line. Weide also hit a pair of free throws.
Fort Scott jumped ahead in the second quarter behind Dierks Kegler, Dub Chipman and Goldston each hitting three-pointers to extend the margin. Goldston also tacked on a pair of layups. The Tigers led the Mustangs at halftime, 23-19.
The Tigers then extended their lead to six points by the end of the third quarter after Kegler hit a three and a layup and Marquinn Johnson got physical underneath for a couple of layups.
“Sometimes they hit a shot and we miss a shot,” Bycroft added. “I’d say we did almost everything we wanted to do except being a bit more patient and cleaner on offense. When we slowed down and didn’t force in the half court, we got the looks we wanted. We were a little impatient on offense, but our defense was good enough to win.”
Iola responded with Adams and Leonard each knocking down three’s and Preston Hurst laying in a two-pointer under the basket. Iola trailed Fort Scott heading to the fourth quarter, 34-28.
Weide was ruled out with what Bycroft said could be a concussion midway through the fourth quarter and Cortland Carson fouled out of the game to ultimately pin down the Mustangs. Adams hit a three-pointer and a pair of layups and Carson hit a pair of three’s.
Goldston nailed a three and Johnson went for a pair of layups to pace Fort Scott in the fourth quarter. Kegler also added four free throws after Iola began fouling in the final minutes. The free throws stamped the final touches on Fort Scott’s 50-46 win over Iola.
Adams led the Mustangs offensively with 20 points, followed by Leonard’s 10 points and Hurst and Carson’s six points apiece.
