Momentum can be a fickle beast.
Crisp passes, sharp drives to the hoop and ace marksmanship from senior standout Cal Leonard put Iola Highs Mustangs firmly in control Thursday.
But a few too many lulls when passes got a bit sloppy, drives to the hoop came up empty and potential rebounds fell into the hands of the opponent proved fatal.
Visiting Wellsville took full advantage, erasing a 14-point second half deficit with some pesky defense.
And even though Wellsville almost was done in by some misadventures at the free throw line, the Eagles righted their ship in overtime, claiming a 74-67 victory.
The loss drops Iola to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in Pioneer League play.
When we got the lead, we just relaxed, Iola head coach Luke Bycroft said. We have the ability to be good, but were not good enough to do that and beat teams that play hard all the way to the end.
Leonard provided the early fireworks. He scored 14 of Iolas first 17 points by channeling his inner James Harden with 3-pointers and drives to the bucket that resulted in free throws.
Leonard had 24 by halftime as the Mustangs led 31-25 at the break. Bradyn Cole, Calvin Delich and Landon Carson picked up the baton from there, keying an 8-0 run to start the second half, pushing the lead to 39-25.
The success proved fleeting.
Wellsvilles scrappy defense forced Iola out of its comfort zone. Even more troubling were the Eagles second-chance points.
We came out to start the half, and had some fire, and we figured now were good, Bycroft said. But I knew that wasnt the case, because these guys just keep coming.
Wellsville ended the quarter with a 19-9 spurt.
The Eagles Kaden ONeil then drilled back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to give Wellsville a 54-52 lead.
We were just out of sync most of the fourth quarter, Bycroft said. Turnover and rebounds killed us. I havent looked at the film to know how many rebounds were out there, but the ones they got were key. They changed the game.
But as Iolas offense sputtered, Wellsville gave the Mustangs a reprieve by going cold at the line. The Eagles missed 4 of 5 free throws in the games final 55 seconds.
Delich gave Iola its final spark of the night. His layup with 20.9 seconds cut Wellsvilles lead to 60-59. Delich missed the subsequent free throw, but the Eagles Cole Swanson left the door open for the tie by hitting only 1 of 2 charities.
Delich was fouled on the inbound play with 16 seconds left. He hit both free throws to tie the score at 61-61.
