RICHMOND — The Iola Mustangs could not keep up with the Osage City Indians while taking their first loss of the season, 56-37, at the Ike Cearfoss Basketball Tournament at Central Heights High School.
Iola will not have long to think about Tuesday’s shortfall as they enter the consolation bracket Thursday with a game against Olathe Christian Academy.
“Osage City is solid. They were who we expected them to be,” Iola coach Luke Bycroft said. “They’re physical and we struggled playing through their physicality. They’re a football school and they play that way. They’re not worried whether they foul. They play on while we get frustrated with those sorts of things.”
Osage City’s ability to limit second-chance opportunities played a large role in the outcome. Senior guard Nick Bauer and junior guard Austin Crooks had 8 points each. A 3-pointer by junior forward Roy Gordon and buckets by senior guard Brennen Coffield and Keegan Hill kept the Mustangs in the contest.
In the second quarter, however, the bottom fell out of Iola’s offense, which registered 5 points over 8 minutes. Osage City, meanwhile, scored 11 and continued to steadily increase their lead.
“We started down 5-0 because I didn’t pay attention to details,” Bycroft said, referring to a technical foul lodged against the team for a scorebook error. “I let us down on that, then it was hard for us to get our heads around it for a little bit. In the second half, we competed well. We came out with some fire after being down 19 at the half.”
Tuesday’s loss evens Iola’s record to 1-1. With two more games slated for this week, and three scheduled for next week, Bycroft said the Mustangs must make the most of every practice to improve.
“We need to get on the practice floor,” Bycroft said. “There are so many things we need to make time for and use these next couple of weeks to try and address some things.”
