Fillies push Labette County to the end

BURLINGTON — Iola High’s Fillies never went away. They made Labette County High’s Lady Grizzlies uneasy throughout the entire game.
The Lady Grizzlies were probably happy to hear the final buzzer Tuesday afternoon at the opening game of the 17th annual Burlington High Invitational. The Fillies came up on the short end of a 58-52 decision.
“Great game. When you play zone (defense) you give up some things like threes and rebounds but our kids played hard the whole game,” said Becky Carlson, Fillies’ head coach.
The two Southeast Kansas League foes battled throughout. The game was tied seven times and featured eight lead changes. Iola’s largest lead was four points and Labette County had two six-point leads, including the final score.
Iola’s loss dropped the Fillies, who placed fourth last year, into the consolation side of the bracket of the tournament. The Fillies play Paola, a 49-41 loser to Sabetha, at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the Burlington Middle School gym.
If Iola wins Friday, the Fillies play for fifth-place at 3:10 p.m in the middle school gym. If the Fillies lose Friday, they play for seventh place at noon Saturday at the middle school.
Top-seeded Burlington stayed undefeated with a 56-31 win over Rossville Tuesday. Topeka-Hayden thumped Santa Fe Trail 55-33.
Iola fell behind 3-0 then came back. Two free throws and a basket by Kayla Callahan got Iola with one, 5-4. Then Shelby Greenwood came off the bench, hit one of two free throws to force the first tie of the game.
McKenna Britton used one of Labette County’s 26 offensive rebounds to break it. Greenwood’s basket tied it again with 1:41 left. Kirstin McGuffin scored on the inside and Callahan hit one of two free throws with 10.4 seconds on the clock. Iola led 10-9 after one quarter of play.
Jazmyne Honeycutt opened the second period with a three-pointer. Labette County wiped out Iola’s 15-11 lead with nine straight points. The last three baskets came from the Grizzlies’ Karlee Lehmann.
Iola had three straight turnovers before Carlson took a timeout with 3:48 left. Coming out of the timeout, Honeycutt connected then Iola got the ball again and Kelsey Larson drove to the basket for two. Larson, who led Iola with 16 points and four steals, scored on a steal and layup to put Iola up 21-20 at the 2:43 mark.
Chelsey Nally only had one point in the game for Labette County and it tied the score at 21-21. Lehmann, who had 16 points, had a follow shot then Katie Rohling downed two free throws to give the Lady Grizzlies the lead at intermission, 25-21.
“When someone you’re not expecting to get a big shot makes one, it really energizes the whole team,” Carlson said of Lyndsi Faulhaber’s three-pointer to begin the third quarter.
Britton, who finished with 21 points, connected for Labette County then Honeycutt’s three tied the game at 27-27 at the 6:51 mark. Lehmann drilled a trey and Britton added a free throw to pull ahead.
Larson’s drive to the rim netted a three-point play. The Fillies turned up the defense and got the ball back. Iola found Callahan down low for a go-ahead basket then Larson sank one of two free throws putting Iola up 33-31.
Lehmann fired in a three to start a 6-0 run for the Lady Grizzlies. Iola trailed 37-33 going into the fourth quarter. It was 39-35 when the Fillies went right back inside for Callahan to score and 23 seconds later Larson tied the game on a basket.
Larson, who took a hard hit on the head early in the game, sank both ends of a one-and-one to put Iola up 41-40 with 5:42 left. It was the final lead of the contest for the Fillies.
The contest was tied 45-45 with 3:51 remaining to play. Labette County rattled off six straight. The Fillies came back again with Larson sinking two free throws and Honeycutt downing a short jump shot.
Down 54-49, Honeycutt drained a three-pointer with 18.5 seconds left to make it 54-42. Britton sealed the win with four straight free throws.
Iola was 19 of 45 for 42 percent from the field and downed 10 of 14 from the free-throw line. Callahan ended up with 15 points and six rebounds. Larson handed out five assists for the Fillies.
Labette County shot 36 percent, 21 of 58, from the field and hit 13 of 23 free throw attempts.
Iola (10-11-12-19—52) (FG/3-pt): Faulhaber 0/1-0-0-3, Larson 5-6-3-16, Taiclet 0-0-4-0, Wilson 0-0-2-0, Greenwood 1-1-0-3, Honeycutt 2/3-2-4-13, Callahan 6-3-5-15, McGuffin 1-0-2-2. TOTALS: 15/4-10-20-52.
Labette County (9-14-12-21—58) (FG/3-pt): Workman 3-0-2-6, Lehmann 7/2-0-0-16, Smith 0-1-1-1, Rohling 1-1-2-3, Ford 1-4-2-6, Nally 0-1-1-2, Britton 6/1-6-4-21, Foister 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 18/3-13-14-58.