Iola High School’s ninth grade basketball teams split a pair of games in Iola’s freshman tournament Monday night. The girls lost 34-32 to Frontenac. The boys won on a buzzer-beater, 36-34 over Fort Scott.
It wasn’t until the second quarter that the Mustang boys took control of the game thanks to a monumental trey scored by Kyser Nemecek.
After that, Iola rebounded well and stayed neck-and-neck with Fort Scott.
Toward the end of the half, Iola’s Jeremy Adair went 2-2 from the line to help tie the game up.
At the half, the teams were knotted at 17-17.
The Tigers broke the tie early in the second half. The two teams kept the game clean in the third and went back and forth, exchanging the lead. As the game crept toward the fourth quarter, Iola led 26-25.
Iola held the lead until the Tigers warmed up offensively, and made some key shots. Fort Scott also had a great few minutes on defense, limiting Iola’s chances. For a while, the Mustangs couldn’t buy a bucket.
Turnovers could have ended up costing Iola late but the Mustangs stayed in the game. Trailing by four, with less than a minute left, Iola’s Lucas Maier hit a clutch jumper to bring the Mustangs within two points. Then, with just 30 seconds left, Iola’s Kaiden Rutherford sank a jumper to tie the game at 34-34. Fort Scott had the ball and drove down the court, only to turn it over to Iola. With just three seconds left, the Mustangs called a timeout to discuss the final play.
The Mustangs inbounded the ball and passed it off to Rutherford on the wing. As the buzzer sounded, Rutherford put up a shot that might make him the most popular Mustang in school.
The shot fell just as the buzzer sounded.
Rutherford was mobbed by his teammates as they celebrated the game-winner.
Kolton Greathouse led the way with nine points. Nemecek and Maier each had eight. Rutherford had seven. Jeremy Adair had four. Ben Kerr and Grady Dougherthy each had two.
“Coming in, we had no film on these guys,” said Iola coach Chris Weide. “We knew we were going to have a heck of a game. Our kids responded. Kaiden has a really good jumper. We have a sideline play we run all the time and he made it pay off.”
TURNOVERS kept the girls game close early.
After Iola was able to keep hold of the ball, a big shot by Iola’s Kaysin Crusinbery put the Mustangs up 8-5 as the first quarter came to a close.
The Raiders stormed back in the second quarter to take the lead for the first time as Iola was hamstrung by turnovers once again. Frontenac was able to convert those mishaps to points.
Iola tried to come back and take the lead, but poor rebounding got the better of the Mustangs.
