GARNETT — A quick lead held up and the Iola High Mustangs got their first win of the season Friday, 61-54. THE MUSTANGS weren’t able to maintain their strong start in the first quarter Thursday and were blown out, 69-45, by Louisburg. (Friday) Iola (19-17-14-11—61) (FG/3PT-FT-F-TP): Cooper 4/2-2-3-16, Regehr, 0-1-1-1, Endicott 2-3-4-7, Taylor 2/1-0-3-7, Aiello 0-0-1-0, Hermstein 2-0-1-4, Walden 0-0-3-0, Bauer 0-0-1-0, Macha 6/1-2-2-15, Peterson 4-1-3-9 (Thursday) Iola (15-14-6-10—45) (FG/3PT-FT-F-TP): Cooper 1/2-1-2-9, Regehr 1-1-0-3, Endicott 2-2-3-6, Taylor 0-0-2-0, Aiello 1-0-4-2, Hermstein 0-0-4-0, Walden 0-1-3-1, Bauer, 0-2-1-2, Macha 4-4-3-12, Peterson 4-2-4-10
The win, over Anderson County, came in the fifth-place contest of the Bulldog-Wildcat Classic.
After jumping to a 19-7 lead in the first quarter, Iola had to stave off a Bulldog comeback late in the game.
“It definitely feels much better to learn from a win, than learn from a loss,” coach Bill Peeper said. “So, we obviously have a lot to make better still, we made it tight on ourselves at the end. We made a few errors and they had some big shots.”
Iola had five different players score in the first quarter. Ben Cooper, Kaden Macha and Brett Taylor each had a 3-pointer. Travis Hermstein scored on a long jumper and Adam Peterson made a basket on a shot from the lane.
The Mustangs continued to shoot the ball well in the second quarter to take a 36-22 lead into halftime. Macha led the team, scoring eight points in the quarter. He also dished a full-court pass to Taylor waiting underneath the basket in transition.
Iola and Anderson County went point-for-point in the third quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Mustangs 20-14 to make a dent into the lead.
Picking things up in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs brought the game to within one possession at 55-52 in Iola’s favor. With 2:05 left in the game, Macha found Hermstein under the hoop in transition for an easy lay-in to give Iola the 57-52 lead.
Anderson County’s D’anthony Fredricks pulled the margin back to three, 57-54, on a pair of free throws.
However, the Mustang defense and free throw shooting kept the Bulldogs from scoring the rest of the game.
“Things can change in a hurry,” Peeper said. “We’re not in a position to relax on anyone yet. We had the lead and we haven’t had to play with the lead this year. Certainly from an effort standpoint, we earned our opportunities.”
“We’re certainly struggling to put any kind of consistency together right now,” Peeper said. “We’re our own worst enemy most of the time. We are struggling right now with fundamentals and location on the floor.”
Iola started the game with a 10-5 lead. Cooper started the Mustang run by driving the court for a lay-in in the first 10 seconds. Kohl Endicott had four points during the run by making two free throws and scoring on a jumper. Both Peterson and Macha scored with putbacks under the rim.
With about a minute left in the quarter Louisburg took a 17-15 lead and didn’t give it up the rest of the game.
With 2:45 left in the second quarter, Endicott scored on a nice pump-fake jumper in the lane to pull Iola within six, 32-26. A minute later, Brice Aiello scored on a putback from a missed free throw, and Iola trailed, 33-28.
The Mustangs drew no closer.
Louisburg outscored Iola 17-6 in the third quarter to lead, 56-35.
Iola (1-3) hosts Central Heights Tuesday.
Anderson County (7-15-20-12—54) (FG/3PT-FT-F-TP): Fredricks 3-1-3-7, Ahring 1/1-1-1-6, Skiles 0/1-0-2-3, Johnston 0-0-1-0, Ratliff 1/1-1-4-6, Jake Rundle 5/1-8-3-21, Levy 0-0-1-0, John Rundle 2-0-0-4, Nelson 3-1-4-7
Louisburg (19-20-17-13—69) (FG/3PT-FT-F-TP): Geiman 0-0-3-0, McLellan 3/1-1-0-10, Moore 1-2-5-4, Lambeth 8-0-1-16, Wertz 8-7-3-23, Welsh, 2/1-3-4-10, Harding 0-0-3-0, Dover 2-2-4-6
Mustangs fend off Wildcats for first win of season
