RICHMOND — Thursday evening showed glimpses of just how good Iola High’s boys can be on the hardwood.
After a sluggish start in Thursday’s Ike Cearfoss Memorial Tournament semifinal against Kansas City Christian, the Mustangs put together a 14-0 run late in the second quarter to take the lead for good.
The roll continued into the third quarter as Iola put some distance ahead of the Chargers in what became a 65-53 victory.
The win secures Iola a spot in Saturday’s tournament championship against Santa Fe Trail. Tipoff is at about 5:30 p.m.
“We came out in the third quarter and we played how we should play defensively, both in the full-court and half-court defense,” Iola head coach Luke Bycroft said.
Iola forced an array of turnovers and bad shots with its full-court press, leading to its most highest-scoring quarter of the young season (24 points) to help push ahead 53-37.
The scoring outburst was no coincidence, Bycroft said.
“We still have a lot of things to clean up, but if we take every possession that seriously on defense, we can be pretty good,” Bycroft said. “When we’re not active on defense, we’re stagnant on offense.”
Neither team could do much offensively until the Chargers were able to put together a second quarter run to lead 25-17.
“We were playing soft,” Bycroft said. “The one thing we talk about every single day defensively is that we can’t let them beat us to spots we’re not supposed to be beaten to. And in all three games it’s happened.”
The tenor changed midway through the second quarter.
Iola’s Matt Beckmon drained a 3-pointer, Kyser Nemecek followed with a pair of free throws and Beckmon’s steal and layup suddenly had the game knotted at 25-25.
Grady Dougherty followed with a pair of charities and Cortland Carson’s bucket late in the quarter capped a 14-0 run.
The Chargers mounted a final rally late in the game to pull within nine before, but the rally effectively ended when Kansas City’s Avery Reed was whistled for a technical foul. Carson hit one free throw and a layup to seal the win.
Carson wound up with another sterling scoring night with 28 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Beckmon scored 11, while Lucas Maier and Grady Dougherty added nine and six, respectively. Nick Bauer added four assists. Beckmon also had three steals.
