RICHMOND — After scoring just 10 points in the first two quarters combined, Iola needed a change.
So Jay Applegate made a big one.
The Mustangs’ first-year head coach sat his entire starting lineup during the second half, instead opting for his bench players to try and jumpstart a sluggish offense.
The shift in strategy turned out to be too little, too late as Iola lost 46-29 to Central Heights on Tuesday night. However, Applegate stood by his decision to let his subs finish out the contest.
“(The bench players) wanted to play, I think,” Applegate said. “They wanted to do what we wanted them to do.”
When asked if the starters had that same desire, the veteran coach didn’t mince words.
“No,” Applegate. “I think that was pretty evident by the third quarter. The subs played harder, they played with more intensity, more heart and they’ll get more playing time.”
Iola’s starting lineup, which is composed of one senior, three juniors and one sophomore, sunk just three field goals during the first half. Ethan Holloway made two of them and Isaiah Fawson made the other to combine for 6 points. The remaining 4 came from the free throw line.
Although the Mustangs were still very much in the game as they held the Vikings to 16 points at the break, Applegate wasn’t pleased with how his veterans were running the offense. So when Iola returned to the court, he gave the reigns to a group of subs and JV players.
At first, the change seemed effective.
In the third quarter alone, Iola put up 16 points. Behind the scoring of Cale Barnhart, Braden Plumlee and Mason Ingle, the Mustangs were able to tie the game at 26 late in the third quarter. Iola hadn’t led Central Heights since going up 2-0, but the subs had the team on the brink of a comeback.
Ingle was the spark for the group of bench players as he scored 9 of the team’s 16 in the third quarter. Plumlee added 5 more while Barnhart’s 2 points at the beginning of the period jumpstarted the rest of the team.
“The bench was patient,” Applegate said. “They ran our offense instead of just giving up. We may have found a remedy. That whole second half, they played hard. That’s what we want. Hard and smart. That makes up for a lot of things.”
The Vikings ended up going on a 20-3 run to close out the game as the Mustangs’ bench eventually fizzled out offensively just as the starters did. But Applegate said his subs showed that they deserved more playing time in the future.
He added that he isn’t sure if Tuesday night’s loss will affect Iola’s starting lineup come Thursday when it hosts Prairie View, but Applegate proved he isn’t afraid to make dramatic changes in order to find success.
As for the starters, Applegate said “they’ll figure it out, one way or the other.”
BOX SCORE
Zimmerman 0-2-0-2
Fawson 1-1-0-3
Plumlee 2-1-5-5
Regehr 0-1-0-1
Barnhart 1-0-2-2
Holloway 2-2-0-6
Ingle 3-3-3-9
Cokely 0-1-3–1
TOTAL: 9-11-13-29
