Last-second shot lifts Girard over Mustangs

GIRARD — It was heartbreaking for Iola High’s Mustangs.
 Two winless teams were playing and something had to give Friday night at Girard High School. Girard’s Dillon Walsh hit a shot with just over one second on the game clock.
The basket lifted the Trojans to their first win of the season, 41-39. It was a crushing blow to the Mustangs who had wiped out a five-point deficit down the stretch.
“All losses are tough but this was really tough. I really am proud how our kids worked themselves into a position to have a shot at the win tonight,” said Bill Peeper, Mustang head coach.
The Mustangs dropped to 0-8 on the season. The Trojans stepped up to 1-6.
Iola found itself down 39-33 in the final minutes of the game. Jerrik Sigg sank both ends of a one-and-one for the Mustangs with 1:04 left.
Girard’s Preston Samuels missed in a bonus situation at the free-throw line. Iola came down with the rebound and Clint Heffern nailed a three-pointer with 50 seconds left to make it 39-38.
Samuels was back on the line and missed again. Charles Apt pulled the defensive rebound for the Mustangs.
Heffern sank the front end of a one-and-one, tying the game, but missed his second attempt. There were 31 seconds left in regulation when Girard took a timeout.
The Trojans worked the ball around and called another timeout with 7.4 seconds on the clock.
“They made a great move to get the basket at the end,” Peeper said.
Iola bolted to a 9-2 lead to open the game and was up 11-6 by the end of the first quarter.  The Mustangs were up 14-11 when the Trojans scored four straight to take a 15-14 lead near the five minute mark.
Clint Heffern, Jerrik Sigg and Charles Apt each went 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to put Iola back in front. Apt had a field goal late to hand the Mustangs a 19-15 halftime lead.
“Girard came out and ran a very good set play in the opening possession of the third quarter. That got them on a roll,” Peeper said. “But the kids kept working.
“Our intensity level and effort was pretty steady throughout the game tonight.”
The game was tied three times in the third quarter. The Trojans had a 7-2 run at the conclusion of the period to post a 31-26 lead.
Levi Ashmore nailed a three-pointer with 5:26 left to make it 33-31. The Trojans kept their lead until the Mustang run at the end.
“This was definitely a step forward for us as a team. We showed strides in our rebounding and free-throw shooting. We competed for four quarters tonight,” Peeper said.
Braden Larson led the Mustangs with 12 points and three rebounds. Ashmore also had three rebounds.
Heffern and Christian Kauth each had two assists.  Sigg took two charges. Iola was 12-17 from the line.
The Trojans got 12 points from Reid Murphy and 10 from Walsh. They were 2 of 9 on free throws.
Iola goes to Fort Scott Tuesday.
The Mustang junior varsity posted a 35-33 win over Girard. Ashmore tossed in nine and Devon Conner had seven.
Girard won the freshman boys’ game 41-31. Iola got 13 points from Adam Kauth and eight from Trent Latta.
Iola (11-8-713—39)  (FG/3-pt):  Heffern 0/2-2-3-8, Ashmore 0/1-0-1-3, J. Latta 3-0-3-6, Sigg 1-3-0-5, Taylor 0-0-4-2, Larson 3-6-3-12, C. Kauth 1-0-4-2, Apt 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 9/3-12-16-39.
Girard (6-9-16-10—41) (FG/3-pt): Murphy 5-2-3-12, DeLange 2-0-1-4, Walsh 5-0-3-10, Samuels 1/2-0-3-8, Eckelberry 1/1-0-0-5, Peak 1-0-0-2, Snyder 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 15/3-2-12-41.