Iola High’s offense was clicking on all cylinders Friday in a 74-62 win over Osawatomie.
The Mustangs scored inside and outside, with leading scorers Cortland Carson and Landon Weide again able to break down a physical Trojan defense.
And with reserves like Matt Beckmon and Mac Leonard coming off the bench, and post players Lucas Maier and Grady Dougherty getting rebounds and second-chance points, the Mustang offense was a potent force.
But head coach Luke Bycroft noted Iola’s defense wasn’t at the same level.
“In order for us to be as good as we can be, we have to have consistent defense,” Bycroft said. “We did good things at times, and we’ve shown how good we can be, but in order for it to matter, we have to defend better.”
To wit, Osawatomie had the early advantage, putting together a 13-3 run to lead 24-14 early into the second quarter.
Iola responded with a wallop, shutting down the Trojan offense as part of a 24-5 run to take a 38-29 lead into halftime.
“I thought we were going to dominate, but they came out after halftime and took it to us.”
The Trojans outscored Iola 13-2 to start the third quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers from Joseph Mitzner to knot the score at 41-41.
Carson ended Iola’s extended drought with a 3-pointer, followed by a Beckmon trey and a Maier bucket to re-establish an eight-point lead.
Mitzner connected again from downtown — his fourth 3-pointer of the game — to pull Osawatomie within five before Beckmon hit again from 3-point range to make it 52-44.
Iola took a 56-47 lead into the fourth quarter. Weide’s 3-pointer pushed the lead back to double digits for good.
Carson led the way with 19 points, followed by Weide’s 15 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
Dougherty and Beckmon each scored 10. Maier added seven points and eight boards. Beckmon and Leonard each had four assists.
“Lucas really got after it, and Grady did a good job,” Bycroft said. “Osawatomie is a physical team, and they have a talented team, and they’re young. They’re gonna be good for the next few years.
“Mac shot the ball well tonight, and Matt hit a couple of huge shots,” which is going to be huge for us. We need them to shoot with confidence.”
