Luke Bycroft entered a subdued Iola High Mustang locker room Friday.
Even though Iola had gutted out a 46-44 win over a taller, more physical bunch from Anderson County, the Mustang players knew they hadn’t played well, Bycroft noted.
“I asked if they thought I was mad,” he recalled. “They said, ‘Yeah.'”
After all, Iola was stagnant on offense, made a few too many blunders on inbound plays, and struggled throughout from the line.
“We didn’t play smart and we didn’t play sharp. We couldn’t score to save our lives,” he said. “But we played hard. I can be happy and proud about that.”
Indeed, the Mustangs can easily build upon this win, Bycroft surmised. “We can get better at all those things, and we will.”
Friday’s win was anything but easy.
Even with senior Landon Carson’s hot outside shooting, the Mustangs struggled to get much of an advantage.
Part of that was Anderson County’s defense, with the Bulldogs’ 1-3-1 zone defense forcing Iola to rely on crisp passing, good decision-making and sharp cuts without the ball.
That didn’t exactly happen.
“We weren’t very good against it,” Bycroft admitted.
Complicating matters further, Iola had to contend with Anderson County’s imposing front line — the Bulldog starters measured 6-3, 6-4 and 6-8 — without the services of last year’s leading rebounder, Bradyn Cole, who’s out of action because of a COVID-19-related quarantine for the next 10 days.
So Bycroft turned to reserve Cooper Riley to fill the gap.
Cooper came up huge, pulling down several key rebounds against the towering Bulldog sequoias.
“I told Cooper before the game that he had to rebound,” Bycroft said. “Doggone if that’s what he did.”
Riley racked up nine boards on the night to lead Iola, and pulled in a crucial steal off of a deflected pass with 30 seconds on the clock and Iola up, 43-42.
That led to Dillon Bycroft’s two free throws with 30 seconds remaining — he’d been 1 of 4 from the line up to then — to push the lead to three.
Anderson County’s Derek Rockers, who had been lethal from 3-point range up to the end, was off the mark on the Bulldogs’ next possession.
