PARSONS — The Fillies came out sluggish against their rivals from Anderson County on Friday night and went into the halftime break tied 15-15 with a team they had beaten twice already this season.
“We were just a little nervous tonight and that is normal,” Iola coach Becky Carlson said following what ended up as a 40-29 Iola victory in the Class 4A-II substate semifinal.
In many ways, the Fillies were lucky to even be tied heading into the locker room. They could not get a shot to fall for much of the first half and it was only through terrific team defense and the sheer offensive determination of seniors Sydney Wade and Toni Macha that allowed Iola to stay close.
“We were in survival mode and we knew we weren’t going to quit,” Macha said. “We just kept working through it even though our shots weren’t going in.”
Wade had eight points and Macha had seven in the first half to account for all the team’s first half offense, so going into the second half, the Fillies knew somebody else was going to have to step up to help out Wade and Macha offensively.
That person emerged in the form of sophomore guard Madisyn Holloway.
After Macha scored five points to start the scoring for Iola in the third quarter — including an ‘and-one’ play to give Iola the lead at 20-17 — Holloway went to work with a pair of free throws and a fast break basket to add to the lead.
Then Wade — who finished with a team-high 15 points — got back in the flow with a basket followed by a 3-pointer.
By the time Macha, Holloway and Wade were done in the third quarter the lead had grown to a 29-17 margin.
“We started out and we just didn’t play very well,” Carlson said. “We were scared, but in the second half, we loosened up a little bit.”
Wade and Holloway kept their chemistry going in the fourth quarter. After Wade answered an Anderson County score with a bucket of her own, she went into quarterback mode and fired a pass the length of the court to hit Holloway in stride for a layup.
Senior Riley Murry got into the act next with a pair of free throws to put the Fillies up 35-20.
Free throw shooting sealed the victory as Macha — who finished with 14 points — hit a pair down the stretch and Colbi Riley went three-for-four on one possession, where she got her own rebound after a miss and got fouled again.
The 40-29 win sets the Fillies up for a date with top-seeded Burlington tonight at 6 p.m., in Parsons.
“I definitely want another shot at Burlington,” Macha said.
The Wildcats have beaten the Fillies twice this season, but after a 10-point loss in Burlington — which was a much closer game than that down the stretch — the Fillies are ready for a rematch.
“We have been close against them and we lost to them at substate last year,” Wade said. “It would just be icing on the cake to get the win against Burlington.”
