It would have been easy to chalk it up as one of those nights.
Iola High’s Mustangs, who lost by 25 to Santa Fe Trail early in the season, saw themselves in a 20-point hole by the opening minutes of the second quarter Thursday.
Some torrid outside shooting from the Chargers keyed a 27-7 lead.
But the short-handed Mustangs had no interest in going down without a fight.
Iola ended the first half on a 9-0 run to slice the gap to 10, and then stayed within arm’s distance the rest of the night.
But Iola ran out of bullets, and time, and could draw no closer than four in a 57-53 defeat.
“I told the guys I appreciated how tough they were,” Mustang head coach Luke Bycroft said. “We made it hard on ourselves, but we made it a game at the end. We gave ourselves a chance.”
Iola was without starting guard Nick Bauer and reserve post player Jordy Kaufman because of illness, and taking into account the team’s defensive struggles in the first matchup with Santa Fe Trail, Bycroft turned to a zone defense to start the game.
But Santa Fe Trail’s guards responded by hitting early, and often, from 3-point range. The Chargers drained five treys alone in the first quarter en route to a 25-7 advantage.
“The first quarter was my fault,” Bycroft said. “What I thought we were gonna do defensively didn’t work.”
The Chargers scored the opening bucket to make it a 20-point margin to start the second period before Iola started its comeback.
Hayden Kelley found Lucas Maier in the lane for an inside basket before draining a 3-pointer of his own to pull Iola to within 27-12.
The margin was 35-19 when Tre Wilson and Matthew Beckmon connected from 3-point range for the Mustangs. Iola’s Kyser Nemecek then nabbed a key offensive rebound to extend Iola’s possession, leading to his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to make it 35-25 at the break.
The margin stayed around there until Santa Fe Trail’s Jalen Smith — who scored 20 in the teams’ first matchup — fouled out with 4:21 remaining with the Chargers ahead 52-39.
Iola’s Cortland Carson went 2 of 4 from the line over the next 10 seconds before Wilson scored on a nifty reverse layup to pull Iola to within 52-43 with just under four minutes remaining. Carson’s putback on Iola’s next trip preceded a Grady Dougherty steal. Dougherty then capped Iola’s possession with a pair of free throws, and suddenly Iola was within 52-47 with 2:57 remaining.
Santa Fe Trail freshman Grayson Orwig scored inside to snap the Charger drought, and Iola came up empty on its next possession.
