In a typical season, Iola High’s Fillies would have had half a dozen games under their belts before breaking for the holidays.
But this has been anything but a typical season.
The Fillies had to contend with hot-shooting Osage City Thursday, with the visiting Indians hitting from inside, outside and everywhere in between in a 59-37victory.
The loss drops Iola to 0-2 on the season.
“Hopefully, things will calm down,” Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson said. “I don’t know if it will. The girls just have to learn to adjust, learn to trust the offense, learn to trust the team, learn to trust each other.”
Osage City took control from the outside, with senior Hayden Serna scoring 12 of the Indians’ first 14 points. Taylin Kirkpatrick then closed the first quarter with five straight points to put Osage City on top 21-9.
The lead grew to as many as 19 in the second quarter before Iola’s pressure defense began to make a dent. Back-to-back steals and layups by Josie Plumlee capped a 7-0 Fillies run to cut the deficit to 32-20.
But after Becca Sprague opened the second half with a bucket for the Fillies, Osage City responded with an 11-0 run to assume full control, 45-22.
Still, there remain positives on which Iola can build, Johnson said.
Plumlee was a pest on defense on numerous occasions for Iola, and sophomore Aysha Houk came off the bench once again to lead the Fillies in scoring with 10 points.
“And Becca did a good job of wanting the ball in the second half,” Johnson said. “We need more of that from her.”
Serna ended her night with a flourish, converting a traditional three-point play, and then a non-traditional four-point play on consecutive trips down the court to finish with a game-high 21 points. Dani Kerns was next with 18 and Kirkpatrick had 15.
Sprague wound up with eight points for Iola, Plumlee had seven and Sidney Shelby scored six.
“It was a frustrating loss,” Johnson said. ‘We struggled to score, and we couldn’t shut down their two scorers.”
Moreso, Iola’s pre-Christmas playing schedule encompassed two games in a three-day stretch, hardly ideal scheduling situations.
“It’s frustrating that we can’t get into a routine,” Johnson said. “We’ll just take what we can get.”
OSAGE City prevailed, 35-27, in the junior varsity matchup. Maci Miller scored nine and Chloe Sell and Jenna Curry both had seven for the Fillies JV. Sage Barney had four.
