The Fillies knew who they needed to stop with the game hanging in the balance.
Santa Fe Trail senior Peyton Workman only had five points entering the fourth quarter, but with the game in the balance, the ball found her hands.
With the Chargers down two, Workman knocked down a shot midway through the final period to tie the game at 25.
After the teams exchanged turnovers of four straight possessions, Iola point guard Sydney Wade drove the lane and went up strong for a layup with 3:36 left. The junior was fouled in the attempt, but landed awkwardly on her ankle.
The crowd fell silent as Wade sat on the floor holding her ankle. She was helped off the floor by Iola coach Becky Carlson and fellow junior Toni Macha.
“She came down on somebody’s foot,” Carlson said. “She’ll be all right. It is not season-ending, but it hurt.”
Sophomore Colbi Riley entered the game for Wade — who would return later in the game — to attempt the foul shots for her injured teammate. Riley made both shots to put her team in front.
“That was really good,” Carlson said of Riley’s free throws. “That’s a lot of pressure and she did a good job.”
After a free throw from Chargers’ senior Skye Dunnaway, Macha went to work on the block for the Fillies. She used a power dribble to take the ball to the center of the lane and nailed a short jumper.
Macha took the ball on the following Iola possession and was fouled with 1:04 showing on the game clock. The post player cooly stepped up to the charity stripe and made both attempts to stretch the lead to five points.
Santa Fe Trail senior Keelie Johnson hit a deep, two-point shot to cut the deficit to three points.
The Chargers then turned on their press to try and force a turnover. The Fillies broke the pressure and Macha ended up with the ball in her hands with what appeared to be an open layup attempt.
“She was wide-open and I thought she got pushed,” Carlson said. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have had her do exactly that. We wanted a layup.”
The late Charger contest resulted in a miss and the ball found its way into Workman’s hands. The senior lined up a three-point shot from the top of the key and the ball found the bottom of the net to tie the game at 31 with 29 ticks left on the clock.
Despite being tied, the Chargers fouled Ashlie Shields to send the senior to the line with 18 seconds left.
Shields missed the front end of the one-and-one to give the Chargers the ball back with the game still knotted.
With Santa Fe Trail back in possession with a chance to win it, Workman shook loose from the Iola defense in the left corner. Her shot splashed though the net to give the Chargers a comeback victory.
“Everything went fine, we just need to learn to guard the girl that is shooting,” Carlson said. “We should’ve known who we should’ve had.”
Iola’s heave as the buzzer sounded fell short.
“We just need to learn how to finish the game,” Carlson said.
Workman’s 12 points were a game-high. Iola was paced by Macha’s 10 points while Riley Murry added seven for the home team.
Iola will return to the court on Friday for their Winter Homecoming when they play host to Central Heights.
IOLA’S JV team fell short against the Santa Fe Trail squad as well on Tuesday night. The Fillies lost at the hands of the Chargers 34-30.
The Fillies held a one-point advantage at the halftime break, but could not hold onto the win in the second half.
The Chargers were led by an outstanding performance from their star freshman MacKenzie Guyle, who scored 17 points. Hannah Honeyman was the only other Charger to score more than one basket, scoring seven points.
The balanced Iola attack was led by Madisyn Holloway and Riley Murry, who each scored six points.
MADISYN HOLLOWAY also led the Iola freshmen team on Tuesday. The Fillies beat the Chargers 19-10 in the two quarter shortened game.
Holloway scored six points for the Fillies with three points in each quarter.
Kassy Shelby added five points and Kendra Sprague netted four in the win.
MacKenzie Guyle led the Charger effort with six points of her own, but with only two Chargers cracking the scoring column, it was not enough to keep up with the Iola attack.
