CARBONDALE — Kelsey Johnson isn’t much on moral victories
“But I can’t be upset about this loss,” Johnson said Thursday, following Iola High’s 56-34 loss at Santa Fe Trail. “We never felt like we were out of it. The girls played so hard.”
A little perspective is in order, considering this same Iola squad lost to Santa Fe Trail by 48 points three weeks earlier.
And on Thursday, the host Chargers’ size advantage became evident down the stretch, preventing any hope for a Mustang comeback.
Nevertheless, Johnson came away pleased with her team’s aggressiveness, even after a slow start put Iola behind by double digits by the end of the first quarter.
Junior reserve Aysha Houk came off the bench to score six straight in the second quarter as Iola kept pace for the duration of the first half.
Then, the Mustangs opened the third quarter with some stifling defense of its own.
Maci Miller and Elanie Sturgeon scored on back-to-back possessions, and Reese Curry’s bucket had Iola within seven, 30-23, with 2:15 left in the quarter.
But Santa Fe Trail (16-4) had an answer.
The Chargers scored four straight to end the quarter, then got hot from outside, draining four 3-pointers to take control.
Iola High’s Jenna Curry looks for a teammate Thursday against Santa Fe Trail. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
“That little run at the end got away from us, and they got us at the beginning,” Johnson said. “They were bigger than us; we’re undersized in most games, and we know we have to really box out. We did a much better job of that tonight.”
Houk’s 11 points and Miller’s 10 led the way.
Santa Fe sophomore Kaelee Washington led all scorers with 18, followed by Braegan Buessing with 12 (all on 3-pointers) and Jaycee Long with nine.
With the loss, Iola (4-16) has one more game to wrap up the 2021-22 campaign.
The Mustangs will host Blue Valley Southwest at 6 p.m. Monday in an add-on game because neither team qualified for their respective postseason playoffs.
Blue Valley was added to the schedule after Iola’s anticipated opponent, Coffeyville-Field Kindley, decided not to play the extra game.
Johnson doesn’t know much about the Timberwolves.
