The Iola Middle School Ponies found mostly success on the road Monday night versus Prairie View winning three of their four games.
The seventh-grade varsity started things off with a 28-20 win despite shooting 28.6 percent and turning the ball over 18 times.
“Not one of our prettiest wins, but we will take it at Prairie View.,” head coach Scott Ellis said. “We had way too many turnovers and our offense was stagnant. Second half defense is what won the game. We were finally able to shut down their big scorer which enabled us to inch away.”
Iola and the Buffalos were tied up at four after the first quarter but a 9-6 second quarter gave Iola a three-point lead at the half. The Ponies outscored Prairie View 15-10 in the second half, to seal the eight-point victory.
Carter Hutton had 13 points and five rebounds in the win followed by five points for Eli Adams, Preston Hurst had four points and Jake Skahan, Jack White and Holden Barker each had two points.
White led the team with six rebounds and Barker, Hutton and Adams each had three steals. Hutton also had the team’s lone block.
The seventh-grade junior varsity won 15-5.
Iola led 3-2 and then shut Prairie View out in the second and third quarters while scoring eight points to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Ponies outscored the Buffalos 4-3 in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
Kyler Mittelmeier led the way with five points while Ethan Collins scored four points. Keynan Stahl, Justin McCullough and Brain Rojas each had two points.
Rojas and Wyatt Westervelt each grabbed three rebounds. Stahl and Trabuc each had three steals.
Iola final win came by way of a 23-7 dismantling of the Prairie View eighth-grade junior varsity team.
The Ponies led 2-0 after the first quarter and 8-1 after the second quarter. Both teams scored six in the third quarter before Iola scored nine-unanswered in the fourth quarter.
Brett Willis had nine points in the win and Colin Long and Ashten Beerbower each scored four points. Deacon Perkins, T.J. Taylor and Trenton Varney scored two points each.
Varney and Beerbower each had four rebounds and Taylor and Devon Wilson each recorded three steals.
Lastly, the eighth-grade varsity lost 36-29.
“This was a hard loss tonight,” Ellis said. “We were in it to win to the very end. I thought we probably played the best we have all year. The boys were aggressive offensively and defensively. We fought for the boards and we attacked. I’m very proud of our effort and our improvements.”
The Ponies led by one after the first quarter and went into the half leading by five. Right around halftime though, things started to shift. The Buffalos took a one-point lead with a 12-5 third quarter and closed things out with a 12-7 fourth quarter.
Tyler Boeken and Brett Morrison each scored seven points. Karson Sigg scored six and Sean Hurst and Trenton Varney each scored four points. Brett Willis scored a point.
Cooper Riley and Varney each grabbed five rebounds Sigg had five steals.
The Ponies will travel to Santa Fe Trail on Thursday.
PHOTO: Eighth-grader Karson Sigg dribbles the ball against an Osawatomie defender on Jan. 22. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON