INDEPENDENCE The Iola boys season came to an end Wednesday night on the road versus a talented Independence team that was having a pretty good shooting night.
In their 64-41 loss, the Mustangs were able to keep pace with the Bulldogs throughout the first half.
In the second half, however, they just couldnt find the same shooting stroke.
Independence shot it well, head coach Luke Bycroft said. And we knew they were capable of shooting it well but we had to play zone because of their big kid. We tried some different zones and we worked on them all week and I feel like we had a decent plan in place but when teams are hitting shots, teams are hitting shots.
The loss moved Iola to 9-12 overall this season.
The Mustangs came out firing from beyond the arc.
Independence used their size to clog the lane leading to Iola having free rein from beyond the arc for the entirety of the first half.
After both teams tied at six, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 13-6 run before Iola came galloping back to take a brief 21-20 lead in the second quarter with 5:15 to go in the half.
The Mustangs scored just four points in the first half that didnt come from a three-pointer while Independence got stuff done inside and out, leaving the Mustangs with a 33-28 deficit at the half.
Iola struggled to rebound throughout both halves, grabbing 15 total, which really allowed the Bulldogs to control the game. Even though Independence was noticeably bigger than the Mustang players, Bycroft attributes the rebounding disparity to other factors.
I dont think (the Iola players) were intimidated by their size, Bycroft said. I think it was due more to us playing different defenses that we havent played much of this year. We had played them here or there but tonight we played more of a 1-3-1 and a 3-2 zone when we normally play a 2-3 which is a little bit different rotation and the position that they need to be in to rebound is a little different so I think that hurt us more than anything. We werent getting to the right spots.
In the second half, the well dried up. Iola hit just two threes in the final two quarters which included scoring only four points in the third quarter.
Its not sustainable to go one for 10 on twos and eight for 13 on threes in a half, Bycroft said. Thats not how you win. And really, we did the same thing in the second half but we were two for 10 from three. We needed to be a little more patient at times and we needed to attack the basket. We had some opportunities and good looks around the goal but we didnt finish anything.
Independence got up into the perimeter in the second half, challenging the Iola shooters but instead of adjusting and taking advantage of that, the Mustangs continued to struggle to find shots both inside the paint and beyond the arc.
Im sure their coach challenged them to get out on the perimeter, which they did, Bycroft said. But when they did that, we didnt respond by attacking with the drive. Really, they played right into our hands of what we wanted to do but we just didnt take advantage of it.
Junior Cal Leonard led the Mustangs in scoring with 12 and was the only Iola player to score in double-digits.
