RICHMOND — The Iola High girls basketball team won their first game of the season, defeating Central Heights, 43-31.
The Iola boys lost to Central Heights, 60-45, due to a lack of rebounding and missed shot opportunities.
Girls Basketball
Iola and Central Heights kept pace alongside each other up until the second half when the Mustangs pulled away behind stout defense and good shooting.
Reese Curry dribbled into the lane for a couple of two-point baskets in the first quarter. Aysha Houk and Keira Fawson also hit two-pointers. Iola trailed Central Heights heading to the second quarter, 13-10.
“We learned that we’re coming into our pace of the game that we want to set and just continuing to focus on that,” said Iola head coach Ali Peters. “It’s about what game we want to play and us setting the tone for it.”
Peters is serving as interim head coach.
The Vikings were led by Bailey Brockus’s pair of three-point swishes as well as a three-pointer from Addison Ouellette to grab the early advantage. 
The Mustangs couldn’t get much to fall again in the second quarter. Fawson and Curry hit a pair of two-pointers while Kaysin Crusinbery and Houk went for three free throws total.
Luckily, the Iola defense was able to hold Central Heights in line to halftime, allowing only four second-quarter points, including another three from Brockus.
Iola’s Houk came out firing in the second half and scored 11 points in the third quarter alone, hitting a trio of three-pointers. Crusinbery also hit a two-pointer to help the Mustangs take a 31-20 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
“I think we had a lot of people step up and take more shots at the basket, along with just running through our plays,” Peters said. “We were more patient and we started playing our game at our pace.”
The Mustangs held the Vikings to 14 points in the second half. The Viking’s Brockus finished the night with 18 points, hitting five treys.
It’s safe to say the Mustangs cranked up the intensity in the second half both offensively and defensively. Fawson went up for four points, Houk hit a three-pointer, Jackie Fager collected two points and Karingten Hall scored a two-point basket to propel Iola’s fourth-quarter offense. 
“We got into their lane a lot more and shut down their top scorer,” Peters said. “We communicated a lot better and made things more efficient on defense. I think that’s with any sport and especially in basketball, knowing where people are and knowing when to cover a certain spot, when to box out.”
