OTTAWA — It was anything but easy, the most unusual of basketball seasons that came to an all-too-early conclusion Saturday for Iola High’s girls.
The Fillies fell, 49-40, to Ottawa in the Class 4A Substate Quarterfinals, sending home a team that was short on wins, but abundant in other intangibles.
“I have a lot of big takeaways,” Iola head coach Kelsey Johnson said. “It’s not how you want your first year to go as far as record wise, (1-18) but besides the record, it is how you want your first year to go. You have great kids, you have great attitudes.”
By most accounts, Saturday’s contest may have been Iola’s best game of the year, with some key outside shooting, defensive intensity to the end, and a rhythm to the offense that had been lacking many times earlier this season.
“The girls really came together tonight and played well,” Johnson said. “A few more shots fall our way, a few more calls go our way, and we’re right back in it.”
Ottawa took advantage of a pair of Fillies lulls in the second half to maintain control.
Iola’s Lauryn Holloway had drilled a 3-pointer to start the third quarter, pulling Iola to within 22-19. Another trey that would have tied the score minutes later, rimmed out.
The Cyclones’ Riley Titus and Brooklyn Hadl hit back-to-back treys in response, part of a 10-point Ottawa run to push the lead to 32-19.
The Fillies didn’t go away quietly. Holloway and Becca Sprague combined to hit 3 of 4 free throws before Aysha Houk converted a layup and 3-pointer to end the period, and Iola was within 32-27.
But Ottawa scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to re-establish a double-digit advantage. Foster Nichols connected from 3-point range to push the spread to 12.
Sprague scored early in the period to finish off her game-high 13 points, but was whistled for her fifth foul moments later, depriving the Fillies of their most potent weapon.
McKenna Orear’s 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled the spread back nine for the final spread.
“Really, it comes back to the girls,” Johnson said. “When you lose this many games, and you continue to play as hard as they did, and your last game of the season is your best game of the season, that’s really what you want as a coach. This is the most rhythm we’ve been in offensively.”
The Cyclones held Iola without a field goal for the first 3 minutes, and Becca Sprague’s inside shot with 4:45 was the Fillies’ only bucket during a 10-3 Ottawa run.
Houk came off the bench to give Iola a spark with a 3-pointer. Hannah Gardner’s trey in the last seconds of the quarter closed the deficit to 14-9, and Sprague scored to start the second period, and it was suddenly only a three-point margin.
Sprague and Lauryn Holloway combined to score Iola’s final five points of the quarter. Sprague’s free throw with 1:17 had Iola within 22-17 before Ottawa scored twice before the buzzer for a 26-17 halftime margin.
