Iola High’s offensive struggles — 29% shooting and 19 turnovers — could be explained as a byproduct of playing the team’s season-opener Friday against one of the team’s biggest rivals, head coach Luke Bycroft said.
The team’s defensive struggles were a lot harder for him to stomach.
“We did not play defense at all,” he said. “That’s my biggest disappointment.”
The Mustangs had no answer for Anderson County’s 6-6 senior forward Noah Porter, who had a night for the ages, scoring 28 points and taking over the game in the second quarter as the Bulldogs rolled to a 68-46 victory.
“I don’t understand it,” Bycroft said. “That’s not who we are. That’s not the defense we’ve played, ever. We let them get the ball to the rim over and over again with no challenge.”
It took a while for both teams to get going early. Porter went to the bench with two early fouls and was scoreless through the first quarter — and Iola took a 9-8 lead into the second period, thanks to a pair of early Matthew Beckmon 3-pointers.
But it didn’t take Anderson County long to take over once Porter returned to the court at the start of the second quarter. Porter had a pair of electrifying dunks as Anderson County opened the quarter with a 16-2 run.
Iola’s Cortland Carson ended the run with a 3-pointer, but the Bulldogs continued to score at will.
Iola caught a break late in the half when Porter slammed down an offensive rebound to make it 28-16, but was whistled for a technical foul for hanging onto the rim for too long afterward. Anderson County’s Brylan Sommer also hit a big 3-pointer just before the buzzer, but also was T’d up for celebrating a bit too exuberantly.
Carson hit all four free throws from the technicals and added a traditional 3-point play, part of his 13-point quarter. Problem was, Iola had only two other points in the frame and entered halftime trailing 34-24.
Carson added five more points early in the third quarter, pulling Iola to within 38-29, but the Bulldogs responded with six straight points to re-establish a double-digit lead.
Brayden Wheat hit a pair of long-range shots for Anderson County, and Porter ended with 10 more points in the fourth quarter to help the Bulldogs stay safely ahead.
Carson scored 27 points on 8 of 24 shooting. Beckmon added nine points, all on 3-pointers. Jordy Kaufman and Grady Dougherty added eight and seven rebounds, respectively. Carson had two assists and two steals. Nick Bauer, Kaufman and Kyser Nemecek also had two steals.
“Brennen Coffield gave us a few good minutes,” Bycroft said. “He was where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to do. And I do like that Matthew was so productive offensively. He was able to get off some quick shots.
“But I’m so focused on how we did defensively that there’s no way I’m happy right now,” he continued, adding that practices in the run-up to this week’s preseason tournament will be a spirited affair.
