Fillies come up short in season finale

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Sports

February 26, 2010 - 12:00 AM

A little lull in scoring at the beginning of the fourth quarter Thursday night cost Iola High’s Fillies a
regular-season finale win at home.
The Fillies and visiting Pittsburg High Purple Dragon were in a close Southeast Kansas League contest. It was senior night for IHS.
Pittsburg senior Kristina Willis who took over in the fourth quarter. She scored 13 of her team’s 19 points in the period.
The Fillies had regained the lead 30-29 just before the buzzer to end the third quarter. Sophomore guard Kelsey Larson stole the basketball and drove past two Pittsburg players to score a layup.
Willis drilled a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter and set off a 8-0 run that Iola never recovered from. Pittsburg went home with a 48-42 win.
Iola was back in the game when Larson hit a three with 5:15 left then downed two free throws. It was 37-35 and plenty of time.
Willis drained another trey to keep the Dragons out front.
“Our girls play hard and we rebounded the ball better. The shots that were falling for us early didn’t at the end of the game,” said Becky Carlson, Fillies’ head coach.
“Pittsburg started hitting their threes after the first quarter. They’re a good defensive team,” she added.
Carlson said she wasn’t disappointed in the play of her team, but it was disappointing to lose the final home game.
“But we get right back after it Monday in substate play. There’s no easy draw in this substate and every team has a chance to win it,” Carlson noted.
But, she said, “I like our draw with Independence. We played them tough both times during the season.”
The Fillies (7-13) travel to Independence (14-6) to open Kansas Class 4A substate play Monday. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.

CARLSON put the Fillies’ five seniors — Lyndsi Faulhaber, Michelle Clark, Shelby Greenwood, Jazmyne Honeycutt and Mindy Powelson — on the court at the start of Thursday’s game.
Honeycutt opened the contest with a three-pointer. Pittsburg came up with five straight points until Honeycutt nailed another trey.
A basket by junior Kayla Callahan tied the game at 7-7. It was a three-pointer by Faulhaber to put Iola up 12-11 at the end of the period.
Iola got a basket from junior Kirstin McGuffin and sophomore Kendra Taiclet  to start the second quarter. Taiclet’s three-pointer had Iola up 19-11.
Willis hit a trey which was answered by one from Honeycutt to make it 22-14 with 2:21 left. Following a timeout, Pittsburg went on a 7-0 run to pull to within one, 22-21 by halftime.
“We continue to play good defense. But we don’t match up well with Willis , who is a very good player,” Carlson said.
Each team scored eight points in the third quarter to leave it a one-point game.
Iola shot 32 percent, 15 of 47, from the field and Pittsburg was 15 of 45, 33 percent. The Fillies had six threes while the Purple Dragons had seven.
Pittsburg cashed in on 11 of 16 free throw attempts. Iola was 6 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Larson and Honeycutt each had 12 points for the Fillies. Larson had four rebounds and two steals
and Honeycutt had three rebounds and two steals.
Willis finished with 22 points and nine rebounds for Pittsburg. Julia Perez-Diez who tossed in three threes, had 11 points.
Pittsburg won the junior varsity game 52-44 in overtime. Toni Taylor hit two threes and a basket to help tie the game forcing overtime. Taylor had 11 points and Carly Mulsow tossed in 16 points.
The freshman game went to Pittsburg 44-18. Alexa Fawson had nine points for Iola.
The Fillies finished 5-11 in SEK play while the Purple Dragons were 12-4.
Iola (12-10-8-12—42) (FG/3-pt): Faulhaber 0/2-0-0-6, Larson 2/1-5-1-12, Taiclet 1/1-1-0-6, Wilson 1-0-2-2, Greenwood 0-0-1-0, Clark 0-0-1-0, Honeycutt 3/2-0-4-12, Callahan 1-0-5-2, McGuffin 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 9/6-6-15-42.
Pittsburg (11-10-8-19—48) (FG/3-pt): K. Willis 4/3-5-3-22, Spresser 1-1-2-3, Powers 0-0-1-0, Wolgamott 1-4-3-6, Perez-Diez 1/3-0-2-11, Casper 1/1-1-3-6, L. Willis 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 8/7-11-15-48.

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