LA CYGNE — Iola High School’s boys came less than a minute from an upset of Prairie View, but a late free throw clinched a win for the Buffalos. Iola lost 40-39.
Both teams came out rather slowly. Iola’s defense kept Prairie View at bay, limiting their shots. Likewise, The Buffalos kept the Mustangs away from the paint, negating their biggest weapon, Tyler Boeken.
Iola was forced to shoot the ball rather than use Boeken’s size to drive the ball to the hoop. Iola’s shooters took a little while to warm up but the Mustangs were able to hold the game close, controlling the ball and limiting mistakes.
As the first half wound down, Prairie View’s offense began to warm up, while Iola’s was still trying to find its rhythm. Iola’s Cortland Carson came off the bench in the second quarter and gave the Mustang offense an instant spark, draining a three-pointer with 2:00 left in the half to close Prairie View’s gap to two points. Over the last minute of the half, Prairie View began to dominate and took advantage of a few Iola turnovers to build a 5-0 run. Prairie View led 24-16 at the half.
After the half, Iola picked up their game. The Mustang defense forced mistakes by the Buffalos, while the offense cleaned up on the other end of the floor, making shots and taking rebounds for second-chance points. Iola went on a 7-1 run to close the Prairie View lead to two points yet again with 3:20 left in the third quarter. Iola’s Cooper Riley led the charge with four points in the run.
The third quarter set Iola up for a game-winning run. The Mustangs dominated on defense, holding Prairie View to only two points in the third, closing the lead down to one point.
The Mustangs made another run to open the fourth. Cooper Riley hit a short jumper to open the quarter, followed by a Landon Weide layup to put the Mustangs on top for the first time in the game, leading 29-28. Weide was dominant in the fourth, scoring six of Iola’s 14 points. The Iola faithful that made the trip roared to life, standing up and getting loud.
With less than a minute to go, Weide hit a short jumper to put Iola up 39-37.
Prairie View tied the game up late, looking to go to overtime. With five seconds left, Iola fouled Prairie View’s Zach Theis. Theis made one of his two shots to win the game.
“We gave the ball away and they had a good look to win it,” Bycroft said. “We are still trying to figure out how to score. We took 45 shots from the floor and they were all good looks but we only made 16. You don’t win many basketball games shooting 35%.”
Iola is 1-5 at the Christmas break. The Mustangs are off until Jan. 4 when they play St. Mary’s-Colgan.
The junior varsity Mustangs won 42-38. Eli Adams and Japheth Rutoh each scored nine points, Gage Skahan and Cody Wille each scored four. Lucas Maier, Cortland Carson, Ben Kerr, Mac Leonard, and Grady Dougherty each scored two. Ashton Hesse scored one
Iola’s C team won 46-22. Kyser Nemecek and Kerr each scored 10 points. Kaiden Rutherford scored eight. Dougherty scored four. Kolton Greathouse, Jeremy Adair, and Cole Moyer each scored two.
Iola (8-8-9-14—39) (FG/3pt): Weide 4-0-2-8 Fager 2-1-1-5 Carson 0/1-1-2-4 Riley 4-0-2-8 Leonard 0-1-0-1 Morrison 0-1-4-1 Boeken 5-2-4-12 Totals: 18/1-5-15-39
Prairie View (12-12-2-14-40) (FG/3pt) Push 3-0-0-7 Walker 3-2-3-8 Murillo 2-0-3-4 Theis 1-2-4-4 Robbins 7/2-1-1-17 Totals: 15/3-6-11-40