Mustangs clip Sabetha, 51-37

BURLINGTON — Iola High’s Adam Kauth carried the Mustang offense in the early going Tuesday. Mason Coons took over down the stretch.
All the while, Iola’s Tyler Powelson spearheaded the Mustang defense from start to finish.
Powelson’s seven blocked shots — coupled with just as many affected field goal attempts inside — prevented Sabetha High from challenging Iola’s early lead.
The Mustangs opened the Burlington Midseason Tournament with a 51-37 victory.
Iola (6-4) advances to the semifinals to take on second-seeded Burlington, which edged Santa Fe Trail 46-44.
“It’s a nice problem to have when we play less than stellar but can still get a solid victory,” Mustang coach Bill Peeper said.
He pointed to Powelson’s defense as the key. Powelson collected three early blocks in the first quarter, another in the second, then three more in the second half.
The swats likely played a role in several other misses down low for the third-seeded Bluejays.
After all, Peeper asked rhetorically, who would want to be the next to face rejection.
While Powelson was channeling his inner Withey, Kauth and Coons triggered the Mustang offense.
Kauth scored five straight points late in the first quarter before Coons drained a 3-pointer to give Iola a 14-4 cushion.
Sabetha countered with an 11-3 run to cut the gap to 17-15, when Iola’s Trent Latta scored, followed 30 seconds later by a Kauth jumper to reopen a six-point cushion for the Mustangs.
The Bluejays chipped away at Iola’s lead throughout the early stages of the second half. 
McKenzie McAfee hit from outside, then Brendon Garrett hit 1 of 2 free throws to slice Iola’s lead to 29-25.
But Coons followed with the first of three second-half 3-pointers. His third trey midway through the fourth quarter gave Iola a  40-32 lead.
Sabetha forced turnovers on Iola’s next two possessions. A McAfee bucket closed the gap to 40-36 when Kauth drained a 3-pointer to give Iola a 43-36 lead. Coons followed with a basket, then Latta scored on a layup to put the lead in double digits once again.
“Mason’s shots were huge,” Peeper said.
Coons wound up with a game-high 20 points to go with four rebounds, followed by Kauth with 14 points. Powelson had five points and 10 rebounds to go with his seven blocks. Tyler McIntosh came off the bench to grab five rebounds and dish out two assists. Levi Ashmore led the Mustangs with five assists. Latta had three steals.
Iola corralled the win, Peeper said, despite playing lethargic sporadically.
“We didn’t have a lot of energy, and played sluggish at times,” Peeper said. “We’re not completely healthy, but I kept the rotation short because of (Sabetha’s) style of play. They like to slow the pace and move the ball around a lot before shooting.”
Frequently, those shots wound up being sent elsewhere by Powelson.
“All of them were clean, too,” Peeper said. “We haven’t had that a lot here. He did such a good job that it definitely affected what they were trying to do. They made a point of finding out where he was on every possession.”
McAfee scored 12 points, the only Sabetha player in double figures.
Iola will take on Burlington at about 8:15 p.m. Friday in the Burlington High School gymnasium. A victory puts the Mustangs in the tournament championship game at 4:45 p.m. Saturday. The loser will be relegated to the third-place game at 1:35 p.m. Saturday.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Labette County downed Rossville 66-41, while Paola defeated Pittsburg 72-61.
Iola (14-11-10-16—51)
Sabetha (4-14-12-7—37)
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Latta 3-2-3-8, Ashmore 1-0-3-2, Coons 2/4-4-3-20, McIntosh 0-2-1-2, Kauth 5/1-1-0-14, Powelson 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 13/5-10-12-51.
Sabetha (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Nagely 0/1-2-1-5, Schumann 1-2-1-4, Russell 1/1-0-4-5, Frey 2-0-2-4, McAfee 5-2-2-12, Garrett 0-2-2-2, Duncan 2-0-3-4, Bauman 0-1-1-1. TOTALS: 11/2-9-16-37.