GARNETT — Iola High churned out a little March Madness to start off December.
After a miserable start in Friday’s season opener — host Anderson County scored the game’s first 15 points — Iola bounced back to even the score several times down the stretch.
But it wasn’t until junior Cortland Carson’s driving layup with about 20 seconds left on the clock that Iola had its first lead.
It was all they needed.
The Mustangs held on defense on Anderson County’s final possession, rebounding a Preston Kueser miss in the waning seconds to secure a 43-41 victory.
“What we won with was toughness,” Iola head coach Luke Bycroft said.
It was fitting, Bycroft said, that the game ended on Iola’s defensive stand.
Anderson County called timeout with 17 seconds remaining, and got the ball to Kueser at the top of the key. He worked his way along the right side, being guarded closely by Iola’s Matt Beckmon every step of the way. His shot from the right elbow bounced off the rim, into the waiting arms of Iola’s Luke Maier, who was able to hold possession for a few precious moments before passing it off to teammate Landon Weide as the buzzer sounded.
“We knew that last defensive possession had to be our best defense of the night,” said Carson. “That’s what’s special about this team. We were able to fight through adversity.”
“I don’t want to say it was the best defense we could have played,” Bycroft said with a sly grin, “but it wasn’t bad.”
IOLA’S early struggles stemmed from Anderson County’s first possession of the game, in which the Bulldogs corralled a pair of offensive rebounds before Brayden Wheat drilled a 3-pointer to start the 15-0 run.
“We weren’t tough enough to get the rebound, and we let it get in our head,” Bycroft said. “We seemed deflated.”
Anderson County’s Eli Martin then connected twice from downtown as the lead grew to 9-0 while Iola’s offense remained stagnant.
It was 15-0 before Carson’s driving layup put Iola on the board.
“We were able to attack the basket and got a couple of buckets,” Bycroft said.
Carson scored Iola’s first seven points as the Mustangs clamped down on defense.
An 18-3 Iola run knotted the score at 18-18 deep in the second quarter before Wheat scored the final five points of the half to give the Bulldogs a 23-18 lead.
