CHANUTE — Foul trouble in the first half was no trouble for Iola High’s boys.
Foul trouble in the second half was another story.
With two of their primary offensive cogs sent to the bench in the second quarter, the Mustangs received support from up and down the lineup to stay in front of host Chanute, 26-24, at halftime.
But leading scorer Trent Latta — sidelined with two fouls in the second quarter — returned to the floor to start the second half, only to be whistled for his third foul four seconds later.
He returned to the bench for another unplanned rest.
“I guess we can only function for so long with Trent on the bench,” Iola head coach Bill Peeper said.
Chanute pounced in his second absence, outscoring Iola 18-3 in the third period to break open a 42-29 lead.
Iola got no closer than 11 from there in a 54-41 defeat.
The loss, in Iola’s first game since the Christmas break, drops the Mustangs to 3-3.
“It seems to be our story against these guys,” Peeper said. “We play well with them for much of the game, before we shoot ourselves in the foot. We couldn’t get our outside shots to fall, and we missed some dinks inside in the second half. You won’t beat a good team that way.”
Five different Mustangs scored as Iola zipped to an early 11-2 lead.
Iola was on top 12-5 before Chanute opened the second quarter with an 8-0 spurt to take its first lead, 13-12, on Trey Ellis’ three-point play at the 5:34 mark.
By then, both Latta and Tyler Powelson had been sent to the bench with their second fouls.
Undaunted, Iola’s Bryan Mueller responded with a three-point play to return the lead to Iola, 15-13. Jesse Zimmerman’s 3-pointer 25 seconds later put Iola on top 18-15.
Iola was able to stay in front the rest of the half, despite hitting only one field goal over the last 4:11 of the half. Adam Kauth went 3 for 4 from the line in that stretch. Kohl Endicott’s free throw with 1:29 left, and Tyler McIntosh’s short jumper in the last 30 seconds pushed Iola on top 26-22.
Chanute’s Caleb Dietsch cut the deficit to 26-24 on his buzzer-beating baseline jumper at the half.
