CARBONDALE — Stop us if you’ve heard this before.
Iola High’s Mustangs, locked in a tough back-and-forth affair with Santa Fe Trail, saw its hopes of victory slipping away late.
Iola trailed by 14 midway through the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs ended the contest with a furious comeback attempt, slicing a 14-point deficit to two in the waning seconds.
But just like they did a week ago, the Mustangs came up just short, falling 53-51
“I’m proud of how hard the guys played,” Mustang head coach Luke Bycroft said. “We had a good shot at it. We just couldn’t quite finish it out.”
Iola trailed 51-49 with 20 seconds left, and held possession.
The Chargers focused their defense on Iola’s two main offensive protagonists, seniors Matthew Beckmon and Cortland Carson.
Beckmon, who had already hit six 3-pointers, including three in the fourth quarter to lead the comeback, was well covered, leaving the ball in Carson’s hands.
Carson worked around a pair of screens for a short jump shot.
“He really had a good, clean look,” Bycroft said. “It was a good shot.”
But it rimmed out. Santa Fe Trail’s Xavier Davis corralled the rebound. Iola had to use up its allotted fouls over the next 10 seconds or so until the Chargers’ Vaughn Decker went to the line, where he hit both free throws for a 53-49 lead.
Carson blazed a trail to the hoop, hitting a layup with about 3 seconds left.
The Chargers’ Rigley Sleichter gave the Mustangs a glimmer of a chance when he missed both of his subsequent free throws, but the Mustangs didn’t have time for much more than a desperation heave at the buzzer.
The first half was a game of runs as the Chargers held leads of 10-9 after one quarter and 24-23 at the break.
Sleichter opened the third quarter with a trey, pushing the Chargers head 27-23.
