Iola High’s junior varsity Mustangs were in the medal game of the 2011 Fort Scott High Junior Varsity Tournament. The Mustangs were playing on their home court Saturday afternoon in the championship game.
Iola hosted the tournament.
The Mustangs came up just short against Fort Scott, dropping a 33-27 decision. Iola led 9-7 after one quarter but trailed 16-14 at halftime.
Iola outscored Fort Scott 8-7 in the third quarter. But the Mustangs managed just five points in the final eight minutes.
“It was nice to get into the medal game,” said Dan Berg, IHS assistant coach. “We had a tough time against their (Fort Scott) zone defense. We were out-rebounded and shot poorly. At the end we fouled and they made their free throws.”
Trent Latta led the Mustangs with 10 points. Eli Grover scored six and Mason Coons had five. Scoring three points each were Drew Clark and Adam Kauth.
Fort Scott’s top scorer was Josh Pythlowany with 15 points.
The tournament got under way Thursday evening at Iola. The Mustang JV opened against the Iola High freshmen and won 45-15. Berg said the junior varsity’s defense allowed it to score on a lot of layups.
Latta paced the IHS junior varsity with 11 points followed by Tyler McIntosh with eight. Jesse Zimmerman and Paul Specht had six points each.
Tyler Powelson added four points. Scoring two points each were Coons, Jacob Harrison, Kauth, Grover and Fryendz Wallace.
Isaiah Grover and Kaden Macha led the Mustang freshmen with five points each. Alex Bauer scored three and Kohl Endicott had two.
Iola’s JV took on Chanute in the second round on Saturday morning. The Mustangs prevailed 36-32.
“It was a typical Chanute-Iola game. Both teams picked it up some and we were able to control the ball and get the win,” Berg said.
Trailing 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, Iola’s defense held Chanute to just two more points in the first half. The Mustangs were up 20-12 at the break.
Chanute outscored Iola 11-8 in the third period. Chanute had a 9-8 scoring edge in the fourth but it wasn’t enough.
Iola hit enough free throws in the final stretch to keep the Blue Comets behind.
Coons led the way for Iola with 11 points followed by Latta with seven and Kauth with six. Powelson added five points. Clark and McIntosh had three points each and Grover had one point.
Trey Ellis paced Chanute with 10 points.
“We have a ways to go. We are looking forward to our next game at Parsons (Tuesday),” Berg said.
Mustang JV takes second
