CARBONDALE — Momentum can shift in the blink of an eye.
Nevertheless, Iola High’s Mustangs were able to overcome one of the biggest momentum shifts in recent memory Tuesday evening while emerging with a 56-54 win over host Santa Fe Trail.
Iola was cruising down the stretch against the feisty Charger squad, leading by 14 in the waning seconds of the third quarter.
What followed was an astonishing sequence of plays, in which the host Chargers scored seven points in less than second — seven-tenths to be exact.
And just like that, a comfortable margin turned into a nail-biter, forcing the Mustangs to fret about some cold free throw shooting, foul trouble on seemingly half the roster and the suddenly hot shooting hand of the Chargers.
But games like that also allow the taste of victory to be even sweeter.
Iola’s Tyler Boeken, saddled with foul trouble most of the evening, scored on a putback with 1:24 left to break the 52-52 deadlock. Then Bradyn Cole, who was brilliant offensively in the first half, made the defensive play of the game when he blocked a layup attempt for Santa Fe Trail on its next possession.
Still, Iola was not out of the woods. The Mustangs missed a pair of free throws, keeping the spread at two, when the Chargers missed a 3-pointer and putback attempt with about 20 seconds remaining.
Landon Carson then missed the first of two charities, but hit the second for a 55-52 lead with 20 seconds remaining.
Charger Blake Buessing then pared the gap to a single point when he scored on a layup. With 9 seconds left, the score was 55-54.
The Chargers then fouled Iola’s Jack Adams on the inbounds pass. He hit the first charity, but missed the second, putting the score 56-54.
The Chargers raced upcourt and promptly called timeout to set up a potential tying 3-pointer, but the shot was well off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Iola finally was able to exhale. 
But enough about that.
What had most of the onlookers buzzing was the bizarre ending to the third quarter, which saw Iola leading 41-27 before senior Dillon Bycroft was whistled for a foul with .7 seconds left on the clock.
And as Mustang head coach Luke Bycroft voiced his objections to the call, he was whistled for a technical for being out of the coaching box.
“I thought it was a bad call,” Coach Bycroft said. “ I sure didn’t expect them to call a technical. But they T’d me up. It caught me off guard.”
