Iola High’s girls were strong on defense to start Tuesday’s matchup with Crest.
They were even stronger at the finish.
The Mustangs held Crest scoreless through the fourth quarter to break open a close game and win going away, 45-23.
The victory, in the first round of the War on 54 Tournament, moves Iola into Thursday’s semifinal against St. Paul.
Crest, meanwhile, goes to the consolation side of the bracket and will take on Fort Scott’s Junior Varsity.
“I was not worried about our offense,” Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson said. “We have tough height and athleticism to cause matchup problems. And once our defense got going, the girls really played well. That’s where our energy comes from.”
Some hot outside shooting helps, too.
Sophomore Brooklyn Holloway came off the bench to score a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter as Iola pulled into halftime leading 23-16.
The margin grew to 12 before Crest’s Jaycee Schmidt scored on a buzzer-beating layup to slice Iola’s lead to 33-23 to end the third quarter.
But that was all she wrote as Iola clamped down on defense, forcing Crest into an array of turnovers and missed shots.
Meanwhile, Iola continued to connect from the outside.
Post players Zoie Hesse and Reese Curry hit shots from 3-point range. It’s the third straight game Curry has connected from beyond the stripe.
Tack on two 3-pointers from Harper Desmarteau, and you have a suddenly hot-shooting Mustang team.
“I think we hit more 3-pointers tonight than layups,” Johnson said.
“This was a tough one,” Lancer head coach Steve Zimmerman said. “I thought we’d come out and play better than we did. We were flat. This was a tough one.”
