Iola High’s 61-48 win over Crest may not have been a work of art, Mustang head coach Luke Bycroft said.
“But it’s a step in the right direction.”
The Mustangs’ Cortland Carson had a big hand in that, scoring 35 points to help Iola get the lead in the second quarter and stay just out of reach down the stretch.
“It wasn’t beautiful,” Bycroft said. “We’re trying to run some different stuff on defense, and it’s OK not to be good at that stuff immediately. Our energy was good.”
Carson hit his groove in the second quarter, scoring 14 of Iola’s 18 as the Mustangs turned a one-point lead into a 34-25 halftime advantage.
“He can score from all three levels,” Crest head coach Dakotah Sporing noted, “He can hit from outside, he’s got a nice mid-range jumper and he can get to the rim when the help isn’t there.”
That said, Sporing noted the 1A Lancers were able to do enough things effectively to keep the game interesting.
“We played the brand of basketball we needed to,” he said. “If there were two more possessions where we didn’t turn the ball over, or if we got two more rebounds, that could have been eight to 10 points.”
The Lancers were led by Jacob Zimmerman, who was relentless around the rim, scoring a team-high 16. Kole Walter’s shooting touch came around after halftime as he wound up with 14.
“Our pressure was good until we got tired,” Bycroft said.
Carson’s big night included a team-high six steals and six rebounds. Nick Bauer added five steals.
Iola’s victory sets up a dandy semifinal match against Humboldt at about 8 p.m. Thursday in the IHS gymnasium.
“We’re gonna have our work cut out for us,” Bycroft said. “They’re big and physical, and they do a good job of getting out in transition.”
The Lancers will play St. Paul at about 5 p.m. Thursday at Iola Elementary School.
The tournament wraps up Friday.
