High-flying Fillies win in overtime

RICHMOND — Four quarters were not enough to separate Iola High and Central Heights on Thursday night. 

The Fillies needed an overtime period to come away with the 35-32 victory, and claim a spot in the Central Heights tournament championship game. 

“No matter how the game looked, the outcome was what we wanted,” head coach Becky Carlson said. “When it came down to the wire we did some good things to finish the game.” 

Poor shooting was the story early on for the Fillies. Iola failed to convert a field goal in the first half, as Kelsey Morrison’s free throw was the only point scored in the first quarter. While Iola’s offense struggled, Central Heights couldn’t score as well. The Vikings led 3-1 after the first. 

Carlson attributed nerves to the Fillies’ inability to score early on. 

“I think we were just so nervous,” Carlson said. “The girls knew if they won, they would be in the championship, and they haven’t been there before. At one point one of the girls came off and said ‘I’m so nervous,’ and I said it is going to be OK.”

Gabby Richards scored Iola’s first basket of the game to start the second quarter, but the Vikings responded with a 5-0 run to lead 8-3. Elysia Kunkler scored the next four Filly points to give Iola the one-point lead. But another Viking trey put Central Heights ahead 11-9 heading into the break.

“I will give it to Central Heights, they were very quick. We are also quick, so it was kind of a hard matchup for us,” Carlson said. “You know if a girl gets up the court about even with Elysia that the girl is quick.”

The Fillies started the second half strong, taking the lead after 14-13 courtesy of another Kunkler bucket. Kunkler finished as Iola’s lead scorer for the second straight game with nine points in the contest. 

After trailing 19-17 to start the fourth, Iola took the lead 24-23 after another deuce from Richards in the paint. The Fillies took the lead twice more in regulation, but the Vikings were able to force overtime with the scored tied at 25-25. 

Kunkler gave Iola the lead with a steal and easy finish at the rim, and Richards increased the Iola lead to 31-28. Morrison iced the game with four points from the charity stripe, and the Fillies finished off the Vikings 35-32. 

Iola will play Santa Fe Trail in the championship game on today at 5:30 p.m. at Central Heights. 

BOX SCORE

Iola (1-8-8-9-8 — 35) (pts): Gardner 2, Morrison 7, Holloway 7, Kunkler 9, Sprague 2, Richards 7.

Central Heights (3-8-8-7-6 — 32) (pts): Brown 17, Meyer 11, Compton 1, Mitchell 1, Peel 2.