Mustangs fall on buzzer-beater by Vikings

It was not going to be an ordinary night on the basketball court for Iola High’s Mustangs.
First, leaks in the IHS gym roof moved the Southeast Kansas League contest to Allen County Community College just hours before game time.
Second, the Mustangs were hosting the Kansas Class 4A fifth-ranked Parsons High Vikings in a Southeast Kansas League game.
Third, the Mustangs raced to a 13-point halftime lead.
The Vikings stormed back in the third quarter, tied it up. Back and forth the scoring went for the final eight minutes.
Parsons’ James Jackson drove a dagger in the hearts of the Mustangs and their fans. With the game knotted at 50-all, the Vikings ran off the final 1:31 working for the last shot. They stopped it twice with timeouts.
Then as the final second ticked off, Jackson launched a shot from three-point range. The ball settled in the net at the buzzer allowing the Vikings to escape with a 53-50 victory.
“This one was tough. Our guys played the best first half of basketball I’ve seen played in a long time,” said Bill Peeper, Mustang head coach. “It was a great half as our kids were working together.”
Peeper said at halftime, he and the team talked about that the Vikings were going to come out hard in the second half.
“There is not a guy in that other locker room that expected to lose this game. They’ve earned that and they showed why tonight,” Peeper said. “We’re still working at getting there.”
The Mustangs controlled the first half from the start on the ACCC court. Braden Larson, who led all scorers with 16 points, had back-to-back baskets for Iola.
Jerrik Sigg and Larson scored to put Iola up 8-3 with 6:24 left in the first quarter. After Parsons’ Wes Krull hit three-pointer to cut the margin to one, Christian Kauth countered it with a trey of his own for the Mustangs.
Speaking of threes, Clint Heffern buried a three with 19.5 seconds on the clock. That pushed Iola’s lead to 20-9 at the quarter break.
The Mustangs continued their strong play in the second period. Mason Coons hit a shot then Sigg sank two free throws putting Iola up 26-11 at the 4:47 mark.
Tevin Jackson hit both ends of a one-and-one for the Vikings. Coming off a Mustang turnover, Jackson drilled a three to cut the margin to 10, 30-20.
Kauth, who ended up with 12 points, answered with a trey with 37 seconds on the clock. The Mustangs went into the locker room with a 33-20 lead.
Larson had a putback to start the third-quarter scoring. But momentum swung back Parsons’ way as the Vikings outscored Iola 17-4 in the period.
The teams were locked in a 37-37 tie as the fourth quarter began.
Down 48-45, Iola got a basket by Kauth then a free throw by Heffern to tie the game for third time in the fourth quarter.
Johnson put Parsons up 50-48 with 3:02 left. It was Larson’s basket with 2:27 on the clock to tie the game.
Parsons turned the ball over with just over two minutes remaining. Iola worked for a good shot.
“We had a good look with Braden inside. It just didn’t go and they got the rebound,” Peeper said.
“What I want our kids to take away from this game is to see who we can be and not accept being less than that. How we played tonight is who we can be all the time. I believe that.”
The loss dropped the Mustangs to 1-2 in SEK action and 8-7 overall. The Mustangs have Tuesday off then go to Fort Scott in league play next Friday.
Jarred Latta and Sigg each pulled down six rebounds. Larson had five rebounds.
Heffern dished out five assists for the Mustangs. Ashmore and Sigg each had four assists.
The Mustangs shot 53 percent, 20 of 38, from the field. They were 7 of 12 at the free-throw line.
Parsons, which improved to 2-0 in SEK play and 13-1 overall, was led by Jackson and Johnson with 13 points each. Krull added 12 points.
Parsons won the junior varsity game 38-30. Coons led the Mustangs with seven and Eli Grover added six.
In the freshman game, Parsons beat Iola 56-31. Kaden Macha scored 10 for Iola.
Iola (20-13-4-13—50) (FG/3-pt): Heffern 0/1-1-3-4, Ashmore 1-0-1-2, Coons 1-0-0-2, Latta 2-2-1-6, Sigg 2-4-3-8, Larson 8-0-2-16, Kauth 2/2-0-3-12. TOTALS: 17/3-7-13-50.
Parsons (9-11-17-16—53) (FG/3-pt): Krull 3/1-3-2-12, Jackson 2/2-3-4-13, Thompson 1/2-0-4-8, Kelly 3-1-3-7, Johnson 4/1-2-2-13, Beachner 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 13/6-9-16-53.