BURLINGTON — In the end, it wound up being the beginning that cost Iola High’s Fillies.
Iola’s defense was pivotal in the Fillies climbing all the way back from an early 15-point deficit to tie the score against Rossville, 25-25, late in Saturday’s contest.
But the Fillies went scoreless over the last 2:43 of the fourth quarter, while Rossville hit just enough free throws to emerge with a 30-25 win.
The defeat came in the seventh-place game of the Burlington Invitational Tournament.
Iola resumes action Friday at Fort Scott.
Rossville took home the victory despite going without a field goal in the second half, courtesy of the Fillies’ pressure defense.
The problem was, Rossville led 19-6 when Rossville’s Hailey Dick scored with 2:23 left in the first half, Rossville’s last field goal of the game.
“We just weren’t ready to go at the start,” Iola coach Becky Carlson said. “I could tell it when we got on the bus. We fell too far behind.”
The Fillies almost pulled off the win, anyway.
Jo Lohman began a frenetic fourth quarter with an early field goal to trigger a 10-0 run for Iola. Hannah Endicott followed less than a minute later with another field goal.
Emma Piazza picked up the baton a short while later, draining a 3-pointer with 5½ minutes remaining, then connecting on a pair of free throws with 2:43 left.
The tie score lasted all of a single second. Rossville’s Heidi Nirsch was fouled on the inbound pass. She hit both free throws to give the Dawgs a 27-25 lead.
But Iola came up empty on its final five possessions, mixing in missed free throws, missed field goals and turnovers.
Theresa VanderPutten hit 1 of 2 free throws to give Rossville a three-point lead, then Brooke Channel hit both of her charities with 29.6 seconds remaining to push the lead out of reach.
“Our effort was there once again,” Carlson said. “The one thing about these girls is they never quit, and they’ll never quit. We cut down our turnovers quite a bit today.”
Emma Sigg’s bucket for Iola was the only field goal in the game’s first 6 1/2 minutes. Rossville, on the other hand, had no such concerns, hitting from inside and outside as part of a 17-2 spurt to start the game.
Mikaela Platt and Hannah Endicott kick-started the slow-but-steady comeback by scoring late in the first period to trail 17-6.
Both teams struggled for the balance of the half. Rossville went 5 1/2 minutes before its first field goal of the period. Iola didn’t score again until Kyra Moore scored with 24 seconds left in the half as Rossville led 19-8.
Piazza cut the gap to single digits by scoring early in the second half before the teams traded free throw attempts over much of the rest of the third quarter. Emery Driskel’s basket ended the pattern to pull Iola to within 24-13. Platt’s bucket late in the period cut the gap to 25-15.
Piazza led Iola with seven points, followed by Endicott and Platt with four points each. Lohman had four rebounds, while Platt had two steals. Lohman and Piazza both had two assists.
Channel scored nine to lead Rossville.
Both teams struggled from the free throw line. Iola hit 4 of 14 charities; Rossville 12 of 27.
Rossville, hit six field goals in the first quarter, and one the rest of the game.
Iola (6-2-7-10—25)
Rossville (17-2-5-5—30)
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Long 0-1-1-1, Moore 1-0-3-2, Piazza 1/1-2-2-7, Lohman 1-1-2-3, Endicott 2-0-4-4, Platt 2-0-1-4, Driskel 1-0-3-2, Sigg 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 9/1-4-18-25.
Rossville (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Steckel 0-0-3-0, Brown /1-2-1-5, Nirsch 2-3-1-7, Dick 1-0-2-2, VanderPutten 3-1-1-7, Drutzon 0-0-4-0, Channel 0/1-6-3-9. TOTALS: 6/2-12-16-30.
Rossville edges Fillies
