Mustangs one win away from state

GARNETT — In what their head coach described as a team effort in every sense of the word, Iola High’s Mustangs are one win away from their first substate championship in more than 30 years.
Iola received key contributions from up and down its roster, offensively and defensively, in defeating Prairie View, 52-40, in the Class 4A-II substate semifinal.
The win sets up a showdown tonight at 7:30 in Garnett against the host Anderson County Bulldogs, who topped Burlington, 69-62, in their matchup.
A win tonight puts Iola in the Class 4A-II State Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Park City. It would be the Mustangs’ first state appearance since 1983.
Friday night’s win reverses a nagging trend for the Mustangs of late, in which fourth-quarter letdowns kept the senior-laden squad out of the victory column.
So, it would have been natural for the Mustangs to think “not again” as Prairie View’s Shey Spears drilled a 3-pointer and later a free throw to pull Prairie View to within 41-37 with 2:43 left.
But the Mustangs’ Adam Kauth fed Tyler McIntosh beautifully for an open layup to push the lead back to six. Tyler Powelson rebounded a Spears miss, and Trent Latta hit a pair of subsequent free throws to push the lead to eight with 1:43 left.
Fate even smiled in Iola’s direction on Prairie View’s next possession, when The Buffalos’ Ethan Barthol had a 3-pointer wiped away for an apparent travel as he set up his shot. Jesse Zimmerman hit a free throw to push Iola’s lead to 46-37.
Tyler McIntosh’s steal led to a Fryendz Wallace layup with just under a minute left to put Iola on top by 10, 49-39, and put the game out of reach. The Mustangs hit 3 of 4 free throws from there for the final margin.
“It was a great overall effort,” Mustang head coach Bill Peeper said. “We had the lead, and it got a little close, but we held our poise. The guys got some good shots against their press, we hit our free throws when we had to, and we did a great job on the boards. Every guy in there did what he needed to do at key spots.”
A quick start helped.
Four of the five Mustang starters scored by the midpoint of the first quarter, including 3-pointers by Kaden Macha and Latta. Powelson’s bucket with 3:53 left in the period had Iola on top 12-4.
Prairie View closed to within 15-9 before Bryan Mueller opened the second period with a 3-pointer for the Mustangs. Kauth’s slashing drive to the basket pushed the lead to 20-9 by the 3:43 mark of the half.
Prairie View stayed within arm’s length from there. Barthol’s 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the half cut Iola’s lead to 22-16.
Both teams’ defenses clamped down after intermission. Neither team scored from the field until Kauth fed Macha for a basket with 3:59 left in the third quarter to push Iola’s lead to 26-18.
The Buffalos’ Ryan Robbins scored inside with 40 seconds left in the third to cut Iola’s lead to 29-25. McIntosh hit a pair of charities with seconds left in the period to push the lead to six.
Macha then opened the fourth quarter with a key steal and layup to push the Mustangs ahead by eight, 33-25, with 7:21 left.
“That was huge,” Peeper said. “There were a lot of huge plays down the stretch.”
Latta and Macha shared high-scoring honors with 10 points each, while six others scored at least four.
Powelson was a monster on defense with six rebounds, two steals and seven blocks. Wallace and Latta added five and four rebounds, respectively.
Macha also had two steals, Kauth had three assists and Latta had two assists. McIntosh got his hands on three blocks.
Spears paced Prairie View with 11 points.

ANDERSON County, which had won only twice entering the last week of the season, stunned top seed Burlington with a 69-62 victory to advance to face Iola in the substate championship.
The Bulldogs (4-17) have won twice in a row.
Peeper is well aware of how dangerous Anderson County can be. The Bulldogs ended the regular season with a dramatic comeback win over Iola.
“They’re a scrappy team that’s a lot better than their record indicates,” Peeper said. “We know that as well as anyone. But I’m excited to see what we can do. We’ve talked all year about putting another banner up on the wall. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to put one up for basketball.”
Iola (15-7-9-21—52)
Prairie View (4-12-9-15—40)
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Latta 1/1-5-2-10, Mueller 0/1-1-2-4, Wallace 3-0-3-6, McIntosh 1-3-2-5, Zimmerman 0-3-1-3, Macha 2/1-3-3-10, Kauth 2-4-2-8, Powelson 2-2-3-6. TOTALS: 11/3-21-18-52.
Prairie View (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Barthol 1/1-1-5-6, Ackerson 1-2-1-4, Spears 1/1-6-4-11, Lee 1-2-3-4, Phelps 0/1-1-3-4, Ross 3-0-5-6, Peine 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 9/3-13-23-40.