Down by eight points, Iola High’s Mustangs still had time to rally against Paola High’s Panthers Tuesday night.
The Panthers missed a shot and it appeared the Mustangs had their opening. Unfortunately, the Panthers pulled down the offensive rebound with 3:24 left in the game and held onto the basketball.
They ran off over a minute from the clock before Brandon Goodman was fouled. Goodman, who ripped the nets for six three-pointers for the night, missed on a one-and-one.
Braden Larson scored for Iola and it was a six-point game with 1:54 left. The Mustangs had several opportunities to cut into the deficit even more.
“It wasn’t in the cards tonight,” said Bill Peeper, Mustang head coach, after the Mustangs lost 55-43 ending their season.
“We played better all around tonight but we didn’t rebound well enough and we had a lot of good looks at the basket that didn’t go down.”
Paola moves into the Kansas Class 4A Substate Basketball Tournament Friday at host Louisburg High School. It plays Osawatomie which beat Louisburg 60-49 Tuesday.
Fort Scott, top seed in the tournament, defeated Chanute 61-46 Tuesday. Anderson County beat Prairie View 67-48. Fort Scott and Anderson County play in the other semifinal Friday at Louisburg.
The Mustangs closed out the best season the Iola boys’ basketball program has had since a 12-10 mark in 2006-2007. The Mustangs finished 2011-2012 season at 9-12.
“Once we get past the way the season ended, we can look back and see how far we came,” Peeper said. “Midway through the season we felt good about what we were doing, then we hit a wall and struggled down the stretch.
“Looking at the big picture, these kids can be proud of what we accomplished. Winning nine games is a step forward for the program.”
Iola had seven seniors finish their career in the Blue and Gold at home Tuesday. That was a step in the right direction — a first-round substate game at home, Peeper pointed out.
“These seniors worked hard and did a lot to get the team going in the right direction. They can be proud of this season,” Peeper said.
Larson, Christian Kauth, Clint Heffern, Mikal Bossell, Jarred Latta, Corey Taylor and Jerrik Sigg played their final game for the Mustangs. Larson paced the Mustangs with 18 points and nine rebounds for the game.
Sigg opened the game with a three-pointer and ended up with seven points, four rebounds and three assists. Kauth tied the game at 5-5 with a basket and finished with six points and three assists.
