You could have forgiven Iola High’s girls if they felt snakebit Friday.
For the second time this season — both against Burlington’s Wildcats — Iola was without starting forward Keira Fawson because of injury.
Coupled with some early turnovers — 10 in the first quarter alone — along with early foul trouble for starters Reese Curry and Jackie Fager, it would have been easy to call it a night.
But the Mustangs had other plans.
Their stifling defense, and contributions up and down the lineup paid off as Iola controlled the game in the second half to win, 40-33.
Iola head coach Kelsey Larson said much of her conversation with her players centered on maintaining focus.
“We can’t let anybody else dictate what happens in this game,” she said. “Don’t let the crowd get in your way. I told them I’ll yell at the refs for them. They just needed to keep their composure.”
It wasn’t easy.
Iola’s early defense put the chill on the Mustang offense. Burlington led 7-5 after one quarter and 14-13 at the break.
By then, both Fager and Curry had been sitting for much of the half because of two early fouls.
Iola took control in the third quarter.
Harper Desmarteau’s 3-pointer broke a 22-22 deadlock. She added a free throw a minute later before Kaysin Crusinbery scored twice in a row. Her jumper from the free throw line gave Iola a 30-24 lead at the end of the period.
Free throw struggles plagued both teams, who missed a combined 28 charities on the night.
But Iola found its free throw shooting form just in time. After shooting a cool 10 of 23 from the line over the first three quarters, Iola’s Kyndal Bycroft, Elza Clift, Alana Mader, Curry and Desmarteau combined to hit 8 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
“They made them at the end,” Johnson said. “That’s what counts.”
Mader and Desmarteau shared high-scoring honors with 11 points each. Clift added seven.
Grace Birk scored 16 to lead Burlington.
“I’m so proud of Alana,” Johnson said. “She’s stepped up in so many ways for us. She’s so consistent, and never shows any emotion. She just plays hard and does a great job for us.”
“We didn’t start great, but offensively, I don’t worry about us,” she continued. “The girls can find a way to score. We didn’t have Keira tonight, that was hard. We didn’t have Reese for much of the night, and that was hard. But the other girls stepped up and scored. Everybody came off the bench and did a good job.”
Fawson missed Iola’s first game at Burlington in early December after colliding with a teammate and breaking her nose in pregame warmups.
