RICHMOND — Iola High School’s girls’ basketball team struggled against Central Heights of Richmond Thursday night, losing 32-18.
Central Heights opened the first quarter on a 6-1 run. Iola, meanwhile, tripped on turnovers and poor shooting. Maci Miller was the only bright spot for the Mustangs with a lone free throw.
Neither team could seem to find the basket well into the second quarter, with neither team able to take advantage of the other’s misfortunes. The only points for the Mustangs came off an Aysha Houk free-throw in the middle of the quarter. The Mustang defense stepped up in the second quarter, not allowing Central Heights to get good looks at the basket. Going into halftime, Central Heights led 16-2.
Coming out of halftime, IHS shooters started to heat up, going on a 4-0 run, thanks to two Josie Plumlee jumpers. Just as soon as shots started to fall for the Mustangs, they ran cold as the Vikings began to find their stride, going on a 10-5 run from the middle of the quarter until the buzzer. IHS continued to play good defense, but Central Heights shot the ball too well. IHS trailed 26-11 at the end of the third quarter.
IHS’ Chloe Sell hit a short jumper to open the fourth. The two teams got physical diving for balls and contesting balls in the paint. IHS went on a 4-0 run but the first half deficit proved too big to overcome.
“It boils down to not being able to score. That’s what is hard for me as a coach. I have a great group of girls,” said IHS head coach Kelsey Johnson. “We wanted to have under 18 turnovers, we had 11. We wanted to hold Central to 30, they scored 32. They did everything I asked them to do. The effort is there, the attitude is there, but it’s hard because they can’t score right now.”
Iola (1-1-9-7—18) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Houk 0-0-4-2, Plumlee 2-2-4-6, Boyd 1-0-0-2, Miller 1-1-3-3, Sell 1-1-4-3, R.Curry 1-0-3-2 Totals: 6/0-6-21-18
Central Heights (12-4-10-6—32) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): A. Haynes 1-2-1-5, Compton 0-2-3-2, Brockus 1-1-4-3, E.Haynes 2-2-4-8, Peel 4-3-3-11 Totals: 6/3-11-19-32
