Mustangs win, advance to title game

LOUISBURG — Three for three.
Iola High’s Mustangs pushed away from Louisburg High’s Wildcats in the final five minutes of Tuesday’s game. The Wildcats used a 7-2 run to get within one, 36-35, of the Mustangs.
Back-to-back defensive “hustle” plays put the Mustangs back in control. Levi Ashmore scored layups on both plays for Iola. It was defense and free-throw shooting that gave Iola its third straight win to open the season as they downed the Wildcats 50-38.
The Mustangs went 2-0 in pool play at this week’s Bulldog/Wildcat Classic hosted by Louisburg. They will play for the tournament championship Friday against Baldwin, who won the other pool by beating Chanute in overtime Monday and beating Anderson County 49-34 Tuesday.
Tipoff for the title game is 7:30 p.m. Friday in the LHS main gym.
Tuesday’s pool game was nip-and-tuck throughout. It was tied five times in the first half and each team had a three-point lead in the opening two quarters.
Iola had a four-point play and a three-point play back-to-back in the final minute of the second period. Jerrik Sigg drained a three-point field goal, was fouled and sank the free throw to tie the game at 20-20.
Sigg led a fastbreak that ended up with a scoop shot by Jarred Latta. Latta was fouled on the play and hit the free throw. Iola led 23-21 at halftime.
Clint Heffern, who hit four treys on the night, opened the second half with a long-range shot for Iola. Another one went down at the 3:21 mark putting the Mustangs up 31-25.
The Wildcats made a run at the Mustangs to start the fourth quarter. But Ashmore’s back-to-back layups righted the Mustangs’ ship again. Sigg and Ashmore hit free throws at the end to seal the win.
“We were 15 of 18 at the line. That’s tremendous. It looked as if they were going to take over when we kept putting them on the line,” said Mustang head coach Bill Peeper, referring to the Wildcats’ 15 of 27 stint at the charity stripe on the night. Louisburg was shooting out of the double-bonus  in the final 6:30 minutes of the game.
Iola’s defense did not allow Louisburg a field goal in the last five minutes and only gave up three points in that span.
“Defensively, we had a solid outing even against their big guy inside,” Peeper said. “We’re getting good minutes off the bench from Christian Kauth and Corey Taylor.”
Despite his hot start, Louisburg’s 6-5 senior post player Garrett Griffin finished with 13 points and fouled out of the game late. Will Garza (6-3) led the Wildcats with 14 points.
Ashmore paced the Mustangs with 14 points, going 8 of 8 at the line, plus had three assists. Heffern finished with 12 points and two steals.
Sigg scored 10 points and he was 5 of 5 at the line. Christian Kauth had six of Iola’s 18 rebounds and Latta had five.
Iola shot 37.5 percent, 15 of 40, from the field. The Mustangs were 83 percent from the free-throw line.
“We have two of the best guards in the area in my opinion. Clint and Levi really do a great job,” Peeper said. “Clint is do a great job running the team as point guard and he is shooting the ball well from outside.”
Iola (10-13-11-16—50) (FG/3-pt): Heffern 0/4-0-3-12, Ashmore 3-8-3-14, J. Latta 1-1-3-3, Sigg 1/1-5-4-10, Taylor 0-0-2-0, Larson 3-0-4-6, C. Kauth 2-1-4-5. TOTALS: 10/5-15-23-50.
Louisburg (9-12-7-10—38) (FG/3-pt): Lesher 1/1-0-3-5, Wertz 0-0-3-0, Stambaugh 3-8-4-4, Garza 2-0-4-14, Daugherty 0-2-4-2, Griffin 4-5-5-13, Harris 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 10/1-15-24-38.