LA CYGNE — Iola High’s boys took control early of their road tilt at Prairie View and never trailed in a 56-50 win Tuesday.
But it was anything but a satisfying night on the hardwood, head coach Luke Bycroft admitted.
“We just overlooked them,” Bycroft said. “We did it last year up here and they beat us. I tried to remind the guys of that.”
Even though they were never seriously threatened down the stretch, the Mustangs also struggled putting away a pesky Prairie View squad Iola had defeated at home by 32 points in December.
The Buffalos stayed within shouting distance despite trailing Iola 15-2 early and not connecting from the field until Hunter Minden drilled a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Minden’s trey started a 9-0 run to pull within 15-11.
It was a trend that lasted the duration of the game.
Iola occasionally stretched the lead back to double digits, but the Buffalos responded each time, usually with offensive rebounding.
“Our defense rotation wasn’t bad, but they just outworked us on rebounds,” Bycroft said. “We’re a good team and we have a lot going for us, a lot to look forward to. But we have to get better at rebounding. If we don’t, we are not going to accomplish what we want to.”
Dillon Bycroft was the early shooting star for Iola, scoring eight in the first quarter before Bradyn Cole took the mantle in the second period with eight of his own. They combined to score 19 of the Mustangs’ 27 points in the first half.
“We needed both of them,” Coach Bycroft said, noting Iola’s outside shooting was off most of the night. “We needed them to put the ball in the hole and they did.”
The Mustangs were ice cold from outside, missing all 12 of their 3-pointers and connecting at a 38% clip overall.
The lead stood at 25-16 when the Buffalos rattled off a 7-0 run to slice the lead to two. Bycroft’s driving layup in the waning seconds put Iola on top 27-23 at the break.
Landon Carson scored twice in the waning moments of the third quarter to open a 38-29 lead. His bucket early in the final frame pushed the lead back to double digits.
Prairie View scored six straight to climb within five, but the Mustangs kept things in control down the stretch at the line, hitting 14 of 17 charities in the period.
“We missed shots tonight,” Bycroft said. “We had good looks, open looks, but they wouldn’t fall, and I think we got frustrated. We started out great on defense, and everything we ran, we got great looks from, but we didn’t finish.”
