A strong Burlington defensive effort put a damper on the Iola girls home opener Tuesday when the Lady Cats beat the Fillies 51-34.
The loss moves Iola to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Pioneer League play.
It was really just the second quarter that did the Fillies in. They only trailed by eight after the first quarter and outscored Burlington 22-19 in the second half.
But despite all of that, the Fillies got outscored at a 3-to- 1 clip in the quarter to stretch what was an eight-point lead to a 20-point lead by the end of the half.
I just dont think we had any idea how aggressive they were going to be, head coach Becky Carlson said. We were kind of shocked at first.
It was a combination of the Lady Cats successful press mixed in with Iolas inability to find any consistency on the offensive end of the ball that led to a lot of sloppy play which in turn led to turnovers.
They got a lot of points off of turnovers, Carlson said. They didnt get a lot off of their fast break which was something we had planned to stop so I thought we did a good job with that. In the second half, we didnt have near as many turnovers. We made better passes, we threw the ball harder but earlier in the game we were just timid.
The Fillies never really challenged Burlington in the second half but unlike last year during their first meeting where the Lady Cats ran them off the court, Iola matched them down the stretch keeping the loss respectable.
In the second half we were a lot more aggressive and I thought we did a lot better job, Carlson said. We really competed. Weve just got to start off that way.
The Fillies were led in scoring by senior Ellie Carson who had 12 followed by nine for senior Madisyn Holloway, six for sophomore Becca Sprague, five for senior Piper Moore and two for senior Shaylee Sutterby.
Carsons 12 is her fourth time this season scoring in double-figures in the four games played this year and while several of those performances have come rather quietly, it shows why Carlson pegged the senior as one of the leaders of this team before the season began.
She just gets the ball and goes to the hole, Carlson said. She has a great sense and shes a great scorer. When she gets the ball the first things she looks at is getting to the rim.
The Fillies now head into their first true road game of the season when they travel north to Praire View to Buffalos, a team that Iola played three times last year and won each time.
