Mustangs sustain effort to claim win

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Sports

December 3, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Getting into the win column right from the start was the plan. Mission accomplished Mustangs. Iola High’s Mustangs started with a clean slate in 2011-2012 and notched a 49-43 win at home Friday over Osawatomie High’s Trojans. “We were confident that we’d be better this year but we had to come out and prove it,” said Bill Peeper, Mustang head coach. “The guys have faith in each other and they trust each other and it showed out on the court tonight.” Iola comes off a 1-20 season. The Mustangs were ready to prove they were an improved ball team. Junior Levi Ashmore and senior Jarred Latta set the tone within the first two minutes of play Friday night. The duo hit back-to-back three-point field goals for Iola. The Mustangs never trailed in the game. They maintained a steady pace at both ends of the court. Iola was up 15-9 at the close of the first quarter. “We never had a had one of those scoring droughts like we experienced a lot last year. The kids worked hard offensively and we got pretty good shots all night. We had a great effort and intensity from our guys throughout the four quarters,” Peeper said. Peeper said each time the Trojans would make a run at the Mustangs, “we’d make a play.” Case in point, the second quarter. Osawatomie outscored Iola 11-10 in the period but the Mustangs did not relinquish their lead. Senior Braden Larson had two putbacks and another field goal in the final three minutes of the first half to keep Iola in front. The Mustangs were up 25-20 at the break. “Key for us is we came out and had a solid third quarter. We stayed focused and had great effort,” Peeper said. “We had made mistakes and missed some shots we should have made but we didn’t get down when we did miss.” Iola began with a basket from senior Jerrik Sigg and two free throws from Ashmore. The Mustangs was up by 10, 36-26, at the end of the period on a three-pointer from senior Clint Heffern. A follow shot by Latta gave Iola a 42-30 lead with 5:09 left in the game. The Trojans made a run late. Ashmore and Heffern knocked down some key free throws in the final minute to salt away the win. Iola was 12 of 18 from the free-throw line. Ashmore led Iola with 11 points and Larson added 10. Sigg pulled down 11 of Iola’s 32 rebounds. Latta and Larson had seven boards apiece. Larson blocked two shots and Heffern dished out five assists. Iola turned the ball over 12 times. Brandon Oakes led the Trojans with 15 points. Josh Criddle added 11. Iola (1-0) travels to Louisburg Monday to play Burlington in the opening round of the Wildcat/Bulldog Classic. The Mustangs play Louisburg on Tuesday in pool play. Iola won Friday’s junior varsity game 32–15. Tyler Powelson scored eight points while Adam Kauth and Trent Latta each added five points. Iola’s freshmen notched a 35-34 overtime win over Osawatomie. It was tied 30-all at end of regulation. Kaden Macha scored nine for Iola. Kohl Endicott, Travis Hermstein and Isaiah Grover each had six points. Iola (15-10-11-13-49) (FG/3-pt): Heffern 0/1-1-1-4, Ashmore 1/1-6-2-11, Bossell 0-0-2-0, J. Latta 3/1-0-0-9, Sigg 2-3-2-7, Taylor 1-0-2-2, Conner 1-0-2-2, Larson 5-0-1-10, Walden 0-0-2-0, C. Kauth 1-2-0-4. TOTALS: 14/3-12-14-49. Osawatomie (9-11-6-17-43) (FG/3-pt): Oakes 6/1-0-4-15, Chisam 2/1-2-2-9, Needham 1/2-0-4-8, Criddle 4/1-0-4-11, Rayl 0-0-4-0, Richardson 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 13/5-2-19-43.

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