CHANUTE — Iola High continues to show glimpses of a team on an upward trajectory.
The Mustangs stood toe to with host Chanute for much of the first half Friday evening.
“We were behind, but we were playing the way we needed to, to be in the game,” Mustang head coach Jay Applegate said.
Alas, the deeper Blue Comet squad slowly but steadily pulled away after the break.
Chanute senior forward Trey Lind made sure of that, exploding for 18 points after intermission. His 29 points led Chanute to a 61-36 victory.
He scored 12 of Chanute’s 16 points in the third quarter.
“We always say, if we could rebound, we could play with people,” Applegate said. “We did that tonight. But we wore down in the second half, and our interior defense was not good. We didn’t front (Lind) at all. We just let him catch the ball. You can’t let a good player do that.”
Isaiah Fawson’s early 3-pointer, and a traditional 3-point play from Ethan Holloway gave the Mustangs (2-12) the early advantage.
Chanute responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead — for good, it wound up.
Mason Ingle gave Iola a spark off the bench in the second quarter, scoring twice as Iola pulled to within 13-12 before Chanute came back with another 7-0 run.
Ben Cooper and Holloway both hit a pair of free throws late in the half to keep Iola within arm’s length, 22-16, at the break.
Lind scored five straight points at one point in the third to push the lead to double digits for the first time.
Iola’s Joey Zimmerman hit on a 3-point play late in the period to slice Chanute’s lead to 36-28.
But as Iola began to wear down, Chanute caught fire. Corbett Kimberlin hit a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 13-3 run to erase any hope of a Mustang comeback.
“I thought Brett (Taylor) did a good job in the first half. He got several rebounds. Mason did a good job off the bench. We’re going to keep working.
Cooper’s 10 points paced Iola. Taylor and Ingle followed with 6 apiece.
Corbett Kimberlin added 11 for Chanute.
“I have to give the kids credit. We had a good week of practice,” Applegate said. “It’ll be nice to have two home games next week.”
Iola has played at home only once since returning from the Christmas break.
CHANUTE prevailed in the junior varsity game, 58-41. Isaac Vink and Ingle led the way with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Zach Cokely followed with 8, Evan Sigg with 6, Cale Barnhart with 3 and Gage Cleaver with 2.
THE MUSTANG freshman squad emerged with a 68-51 win.
Kane Rogers, Dylan Doolittle and Tayton Driskel scored 16, 15 and 13 points to lead a balanced scoring attack. Cole Regehr followed with 9, Blake Ashmore with 8, Derek Bycroft with 5 and Hunter Baughn with 2.
The Mustangs will host Santa Fe Trail Tuesday and Central Heights next Friday.
Iola (6-10-12-8—36) (FG/3pt): Zimmerman 1-1-1-3, Cooper 1/2-2-2-10, Fawson 0/1-0-3-3, Taylor 3-0-0-6, Holloway 1-3-4-5, Ingle 2-2-2-6, Sigg 1-1-3-3. TOTALS: 9/3-9-15-36.
Chanute (12-10-16-23—61) (FG/3pt): Allen 0-0-1-0, Manbeck 3/1-0-3-9, Lind 12-4-2-29, Holmes 2-0-0-4, Hernandez 0-0-1-0, Miller 1-0-3-2, Haviland 0-0-1-0, Kimberlin 1/3-0-3-11, Senf 0/1-0-4-3. TOTALS: 19/6-5-18-61.
