The third time was, in fact, a charm in the Iola girls 53-39 win at Prairie View on Tuesday.
Then again, the first two times that the Fillies beat the Buffalos this season might have been charms as well.
Thanks to the preseason and midseason tournaments, Prairie View is one of two teams that the Fillies will meet more than twice but it is the only team that they swept.
“Prairie View fought hard and they match up well with us but we came out and looked ready to play tonight,” Carlson said. “When you play someone three times in one season, it can get harder because you both know what all you’re going to do but I told the team that it’s great to get three wins over a team.”
Iola really didn’t find its groove until the start of the second quarter. The Fillies trailed 11-9 after the first quarter but got things going by taking it right at the Buffalos, working their way to a 14-0 run to start the second quarter.
The leader of the first half attack was junior Ellie Carson who had 17 points, nine of which came in the second quarter.
“She’s so aggressive,” Carlson said. “We passed the ball really well. Our shots weren’t really falling from outside but when you score from the inside you make that not matter as much. Ellie caught fire in the first half and then (senior guard Colbi Riley, who also had 17 points) stepped up in the second half and got to the line. (Junior Madyson Holloway) really did that too.”
The Fillies went to the line 29 times in the game and came away with 18 points.
That well started to dry up to start the second half but the Fillies kept Prairie View at bay throughout the third quarter until things started to pick up again in the fourth when Iola grabbed their first double-digit lead of the game.
“We got some good stops,” Carlson said. “In the second half, I felt like we really picked up the defense. We were trying to get them to come out and play man against us because I feel really confident about our man plays and then when they did we were able to get some real nice looks.”
With the win, Iola moves to 5-10 on the season and 3-4 in league play. They’ll host Anderson County on Friday for the first of their two-game season series.
“We haven’t played them yet which is odd considering how late we are in the season,” Carlson said. “We have to play well and take care of the ball. We’re ready to go on a winning streak here.”
Freshman Results
The Fillie freshman beat Prairie View 23-11 in a two-quarter game. Decca Sprague had nine points and Hannah Gardner had eight points.
Box Scores
Iola (9-15-9-20—53) (2pt/3pt-FT-F-TP) Carson 8/0-1-3-17, Riley 4/0-9-4-17, Holloway 3/1-5-1-12, Bycroft 0/0-2-1-2, Sutterby 1/0-0-4-2, Gardner 0/0-1-3-1, Bauer 0/0-0-1-0, Sprague 0/0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 16/1-18-18-53.
Prairie View (11-10-9-9—39) (2pt/3pt-FT-F-TP) Kellerman 6/0-6-4-18, Aust 3/0-4-3-10, Boedicker 0/1-0-2-3, Kirkpatrick 1/0-1-4-3, Walker 0/1-0-4-3, Brown 1/0-0-2-2, Davis 0/0-0-4-0, Loomis 0/0-0-1-0, Kerr 0/0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 11/2-11-24-39.
PICTURE — Junior guard Ellie Carson drives at the basket in Tuesday’s 53-39 win at Prairie View. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON
