The Iola High girls basketball team gave their home crowd something to cheer about against Wellsville during the school’s winter Homecoming weekend. The Mustang boys didn’t fare as well as they couldn’t keep up with the Eagles high powered offense in a double digit defeat.
The Mustang girls (3-7) went down early but picked up the pace in the second half when they outscored Wellsville, 37-22, and got seven scorers involved to take down the Eagles, 51-43.
Iola’s boys (4-5) came out of the gates strong in the first quarter but allowed Wellsville to outscore them 21-6 in the second quarter which ultimately set the tone for the rest of the night.
Girls Basketball
Aysha Houk hit a three and Reese Curry banked in a layup for the only Iola points of the first quarter. Keira Fawson, Alana Mader and Curry then each scored layups in the second quarter but it still wasn’t enough for the home team to get in striking distance, trailing by eight at half.
Wellsville bucketed 11 points in each of the first two quarters behind Aaliyah Green’s trio of layups and Jacey Clancy’s pair of two-point baskets in the opening eight minutes. Clancy then hit a three and a few free throws while Green also went for a layup in the second.
Iola trailed Wellsville at halftime, 22-14.
The Mustangs came alive in the third quarter when Houk sank a couple of three’s and Fawson scored a pair of layups. Elza Clift and Kaysin Crusinbery also each bucketed layups to help Iola outscore Wellsville in the third, 18-10, and take a 32-31 lead heading to the fourth.
“I think the girls were just more locked in for the second half,” said Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson. “We came out in the second half and we were doing everything right, we were locking down when we needed to, we took great shots, we weren’t turning the ball over.”
The Eagles were led in the third by Green hitting a few free throws and a two-point basket.
Iola then outscored Wellsville again in the fourth quarter, 19-12. Karington Hall and Houk accounted for the majority of the Mustang points, scoring nine and seven points, respectively. Houk was able to hit a triple and a layup while Hall drove in for three layups.
“Karington was an offensive rebounding machine tonight,” said Johnson. “She was crashing the boards really hard and she was a huge player for us on both ends of the court. She shut down two of their best scorers and she always seemed to be around the basket.”
The Eagles wouldn’t go down quietly as Jaeda Fletcher, Katelyn West and Clancy each drove in for layups to cut into the Mustang advantage. Wellsvile would get as close as a few points but Iola held on in the final minutes for the eight-point victory, 51-43.
Houk led the Mustang scoring with 23 points, followed by Hall’s nine points and Fawson and Crusinbery’s six points apiece. Houk’s performance saw her knock down four three’s.
Boys Basketball
