After getting their first taste of defeat Tuesday night in their Pioneer League opener at Burlington, the Iola boys are out to make it right again in their home opener Friday night versus Prairie View.
The Buffaloes are 2-2 and 0-2 in league play after opening the season with a loss to Burlington and falling to Santa Fe Trail 61-33 on Tuesday.
The Mustangs already beat Santa Fe Trail by double-digits earlier this season so the prospect of Iola returning to the win column looks good.
One of the Mustangs’ biggest issues with Burlington was their inability to find a rhythm offensively versus the Wildcats. From turnovers thanks to Burlington’s pressure to constantly changing defensive looks, refusing to allow Iola to get comfortable, the Mustangs just couldn’t get the steady stream of scoring going that they’ve been able to do all year.
With Prairie View, that may be less of an issue according to Iola head coach Luke Bycroft who said that the Buffaloes haven’t been known for their defensive complexity or heavy pressure.
“I’ll expect to see a little bit more of a traditional zone defense,” Bycroft said. “I could be wrong, we haven’t seen film on them yet but in the past, that’s what they’ve done. I don’t think they’re big this year, they lost their bigs from last year. They have a couple of kids returning who can score but that’s really it so I think our depth and our size should be pretty favorable for us Friday night.”
That will be key — as it always will be for the Mustangs — get the bigs going early and often.
On Tuesday, senior Evan Sigg was able to have a nice game scoring 16 points but senior Ethan Holloway only had eight in a night where physical play and foul trouble limited him. Iola has a nice stable of guards who are more than capable of scoring and holding their own defensively but the Mustangs operate best when they work inside-out.
It’s been proven already this season, early success for Sigg and Holloway paves the way for another check in Iola’s win column.
—
The Fillies had a painful go of it on Tuesday when their offense was basically slowed to a halt, scoring six points total in the second and third quarter on their way to a 65-20 loss.
Luckily for Iola, Prairie View’s struggles far surpass its own.
The Buffaloe Girls are winless so far this season and are fresh off a 20-point drubbing by Santa Fe Trail on Tuesday.
The Fillies may have only won one game so far this season but they have held tough in two of their three losses.
Senior point guard Colbi Riley will be back in her second game since her injury and will hopefully continue to get her team going offensively.
Junior Ellie Carson is coming off of a strong 11-point performance versus Burlington and seems to be finding her place on the team after earning her first start on Tuesday.
A victory would do wonders for getting this team’s confidence back up and some good momentum going before they face defending state-champs Girard to close out the semester.
