CARBONDALE — The Mustangs were a different team on Tuesday night against Santa Fe Trail. Iola earned a huge 56-37 win after losing 64-61 to Santa Fe Trail on Jan. 24 in the Burlington Midseason Tournament. Iola 56, Santa Fe Trail 37
“We were certainly a much improved team tonight and our intensity level was much better,” coach Bill Peeper said. “They (Santa Fe Trail) were a different team tonight, too. They were missing a guy that scored 27 points on us last time. I don’t think that’s the entire story, but it’s part of it. We definitely were a different team. It was nice to see us respond and build on from the other night. We continue to push forward. It was a pretty well-rounded game.”
Iola started high on defense the first quarter. The Mustangs held the Chargers to a goose egg after the first eight minutes, while taking the 8-0 lead.
Adam Peterson scored on a mid-range jumper. Brett Taylor then hit Kaden Macha with a pass inside for the easy deuce. Ethan Holloway earned a trip to the line, where he hit one of two free throws. Ending the scoring was a Shane Walden 3-pointer.
The Mustangs’ run continued into the second quarter, where Holloway made two more free throws to give Iola a 10-0 lead. Santa Fe Trail’s first points came with 6:45 left in the half on a short jumper from Daniel Courtwright. Iola throttled past the Chargers to end the quarter.
Kohl Endicott nailed a turnaround jumpshot. Ben Cooper scored five straight points — including a 3-pointer. Macha went 2-2 from the line. Walden ended the quarter with five points. On a last-second 3-point attempt by Macha, Walden basically spiked the ball back up and in as time expired. Iola led 25-10 heading into halftime.
The Chargers came alive in the third quarter. A quick two-minute 8-0 run had the game at 25-18 in favor of Iola. The Mustangs responded before the quarter ended. With 2:35 left, Iola went on a 6-0 run and had their double-digit lead back. The Mustangs led 36-25.
In the fourth quarter, Iola outscored the Chargers 20-12. Macha stepped up with seven points.
With the win over Santa Fe Trail and the hard fought contest against Chanute last Friday, the Mustangs appear to be turning a corner.
“Individually, we see that we have to lay it out there,” Peeper said. “There’s no reason to hold back. For a lot of these guys, their careers are coming to an end. We’ve got to start changing now.”
The team is also seeing contributions from more players.
“I think our guys up and down the lineup played really hard. Our guards stepped up — Shane and Kohl — and played really aggressive,” Peeper said. “Brett Taylor was all over the ball tonight. He didn’t do a lot of scoring but helped us out in many other ways.”
While Taylor only scored two points, he put up a great stat line, finishing with four assists, six rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
Iola (4-10) travels to Central Heights on Friday.
Iola (8-17-11-20—56) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Cooper 1/1-2-3-7, Fawson 2-0-0-4, Endicott 1-2-3-4, Taylor 1-0-1-2, Hermstein 1-0-0-2, Walden 3/1-3-0-12, Macha 3-7-4-13, Holloway 1-4-1-6, Peterson 3-0-4-6
Santa Fe Trail (0-10-15-12—37) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Watkins 3-0-5-6, Fischer 0-0-1-0, Long 0-0-1-0, Coltrane 1-0-1-2, Courtwright 3-2-2-8, McPherson 0-2-1-2, Vandevord 6-5-2-17, Hastings 1-0-2-2, Boyd 0-0-3-0
Mustang redemption
