RICHMOND — Iola High School’s girls’ basketball team got their first win of the season on Friday, defeating Prairie Village’s Kansas City Christian, 37-20.
The girls stormed out of the gates, fueled by sharp shooting from Aysha Houk and Maci Miller. Iola played fast and physical in the first quarter and raced out to an 8-2 lead.
In the second quarter, the Mustangs’ dominant defense forced a flurry of turnovers by the Panthers and converted those into points in transition. Iola led at the half, 17-9.
Neither team found much rhythm in the third quarter. Iola’s lockdown defense kept the Panthers from establishing any offense, but the Mustangs’ shots didn’t fall, either. Still, Iola was able to stretch its lead to 10 points toward the end of the period.
Iola pulled away in the fourth quarter. Reese Curry heated up and sank two field goals and a free throw. Iola’s defense held KCC to two points down the stretch.
“It comes down to the girls,” said Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson. “Throughout all of our games, we have been fine defensively. Offensively, we have struggled. Tonight, the girls found the basket and they got some shots. It feels good to win, but we still have a lot of things to work on.”
The Mustangs (1-3) travel to Burlington Tuesday.
(Iola 8-9-4-11—32) (FG/3pt): Houk 3-1-2-7, Miller 2-0-3-4, Plumlee 1-0-4-2, Sell 2-1-1-5, J. Curry 2-1-2-5, R.Curry 2-1-0-5, Fawson 1-0-0-1, Shelby 2-0-2-2. Totals 14/0-4-16-32
Kansas City Christian (4-5-2-9-20) (FG/3pt): Veer 3-1-3-7, Dekker 2-2-3-4, Holloway 2-1-3-5, Whitson 2-0-1-2, Diggs 1-0-3-2.
