Iola High’s Mustangs had no answer to the Kansas Class 4A eight-ranked Parsons High Vikings here Friday. Not even a jammed-packed homecoming crowd provided energy enough for the Mustangs to draw from in the Southeast Kansas League contest.
The Mustangs again hung with the Vikings early. It was 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Iola had withstood the first 6-0 run by Parsons.
But the Vikings rattled off 10 unanswered points to start the second quarter and never looked back in a 55-21 runaway win.
“We let them bother us in every thing we did. We allowed them to dictate how the game was played,” said Steve Taylor, Mustang head coach.
“Their pressure. Their quickness and athleticism are tough for us to match up with.”
Seth Walden nailed a three-pointer to get Iola going at the 4:30 mark of the first quarter. Kent Toland added a basket and Iola was in the game at 6-5.
Brock Borovetz and Iola’s Michael Middleton traded baskets. Iola was down 14-8 when Chris Heffern used an offensive rebound to score with 7.2 seconds left.
The Vikings’ used full-court, trapping pressure to force turnovers and not allow the Mustangs shot opportunities in the second quarter.
By the 5:04 mark of the period, it as 24-10. The Vikings outscored Iola 21-5 in the quarter, holding a 20-point halftime lead, 35-15.
Parsons began the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers. The Vikings only had three threes on the night and the third one came at the midway mark in the period.
Toland had a basket early in the third quarter. Clint Heffern hit a trey for Iola with 1:25 left. That was it.
Iola only scored six points in the second half. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
The Mustangs shot 30 percent, 9 of 30, from the field and went 5 of 11 at the free-throw line.
Middleton led the Mustangs with six points. Toland added five. Iola had 20 rebounds.
Eleven players scored for Parsons. Gerald Austin, who had two threes, led with 10. Tevin Johnson and Steve Jones each had nine points. The Vikings hit 4 of 10 free throw attempts.
Iola is 3-10 in SEK play and 5-12 overall. Parsons improved to 9-2 and 13-2 overall.
The Mustangs are idle Tuesday then travel to Fort Scott Friday.
Parsons won the junior varsity game 61-35. Iola’s Jerrik Sigg had 10 points.
In the freshman game, Parsons won 78-49. Mason Coons scored 28 points for Iola.
Iola (10-5-5-1—21) (FG/3-pt): Cl. Heffern 0/1-0-1-3, Ch. Heffern 1-0-3-2, Sigg 0-0-1-0, Toland 4-1-0-5, Taylor 0-0-1-0, D. Walden 0-1-0-1, S. Walden 0/1-0-1-3, Middleton 2-2-0-6, Peterson 0-1-4-1. TOTALS: 7/2-5-11-21.
Parsons (14-21-15-7—55) (FG/3-pt): Krull 1-0-0-2, Jackson 1-0-1-2, Borovetz 3-0-2-6, Brenn 1-1-1-3, Thompson 1-0-0-2, Te. Johnson 3/1-0-2-9, Austin 2/2-0-3-10, Jones 3-3-2-9, Nash 0-0-1-0, Dhoogie 1-0-1-2, Ta. Johnson 2-0-0-4, Thomas 3-0-1-6. TOTALS: 21/3-4-14-55.
Vikings roll past the Mustangs
