RICHMOND — Getting comfortable made things a little too close for comfort for Iola High’s boys Monday evening.
The Mustangs began the Ike Cearfoss Memorial Tournament by defeating the Central Heights host Vikings 64-61 to advance to Thursday’s semifinal round against Kansas City Christian.
But the manner in which Iola improved to 2-0 left much to be desired, head coach Luke Bycroft said.
“We looked like we relaxed,” Bycroft said. “We felt like we were comfortable and decided we didn’t have to play defense.”
The Vikings made things somewhat interesting down the stretch, paring what had been a 15-point Mustang lead to single digits on Brylan Sommer’s 3-pointer with 5:19 left. Ethan Rowan’s layup a half minute later pulled the Vikings to within 55-48.
A pair of Cortland Carson free throws and a Landon Weide layup pushed the lead back to 12 for Iola with just over 2 minutes showing on the clock.
The Mustangs hit 5 of 8 free throws in the waning seconds to prevent disaster, because Central Heights did anything but go quietly into night.
Viking senior forward Ethan Rowan repeatedly slashed his way to the rim down the stretch, pouring in a combined 20 points over the third and fourth quarters. As a team, Central Heights poured in 20 points in the third period and 22 in the fourth.
“We scored the ball just fine, but to give up 42 points in the second half was ridiculous,” Bycroft said. “The lack of effort and attention to detail on the defensive end concerns me.”
EARLY foul trouble threatened to derail Iola’s night.
Starters Weide, Carson and Grady Dougherty all were saddled with two fouls early on, prompting Bycroft to dig a bit deeper into his bench.
Reserves Nick Bauer, Casey Rowe, Hayden Kelly and Kyser Nemecek were just what the doctor ordered. Their defensive intensity, coupled with a pair of key 3-pointers from Matt Beckmon, triggered a 19-5 Mustang run, pushing Iola ahead 33-19 at the break.
“That’s when we took control of the game,” Bycroft said. “We were up in their faces.”
The fun continued into the second half, as Bauer and Beckmon each converted from deep to swell the lead to 15 before the Vikings began to rally.
Weide led Iola with 22 points, followed by Carson with 18. Beckmon, whom Bycroft had encouraged to be more aggressive with his shot, wound up with 12.
