FREDONIA A sluggish first half was a distant memory by the time Iola High ran rampant past Douglass on Monday night.
Ranked as the top seed in this weeks Wilson County Classic, the Mustangs started on the right foot with a 59-38 blowout win over the Bulldogs.
In the first half, Iola failed to find its rhythm offensively. The Bulldogs bullied their way to a one-point 18-17 lead at the break. Mustangs head coach Luke Bycroft highlighted that his team was simply not prepared for Douglasss grittiness.
We had no energy, and were just standing on both ends of the floor, Bycroft said. We didnt have any desire to move, we were being outworked and outrebounded.
Halftime adjustments had nothing to do with Iolas gameplan, and everything to do with their desire to win.
I just told them, we dont need to change anything we are doing, we just need to change how we are doing it, Bycroft said.
The Mustangs began the second half fired up, and outpaced the Bulldogs 22-5 in third period. Landon Carson and Cal Leonard provided two 2-pointers apiece in the third to lift Iola from its shooting woes. Carson ended the night as Iolas leading scorer with a season-high 19 points.
We came out with energy, effort, and moved the ball. We are either good when we are doing those things or bad, there is no in-between, Bycroft said. We did what we needed to do in the second half. We attacked on the offensive and defensive end, and the half looked nothing the same.
The Mustangs led 39-23 by the end of the third, and senior Calvin Delich gave Iola its largest lead with a bucket to start the fourth. Delich finished with a team high seven assists to go along with five rebounds and four points. The Mustangs finished off Douglass 59-38.
With the win, Iola advances to the second round of the Wilson County Classic. Today, the Mustangs will host Bluestem at 8:30 p.m. at Fredonia High. Bluestem is coming off a 65-61 first-round win over Fredonia.
BOX SCORE
Iola (8-9-22-20 59) (pts): Bycroft 2, Adams 3, Leonard 11, Louk 2, Cole 10, Carson 19, Delich 4, Boeken 10.
Douglass (10-8-5-15 38) (pts): Jones 2, Roberts 3, Arevalo 6, Jordan Stoffel 5, Moore 3, Jared Stoffel 14, Titus 5.
