Third-quarter cold spell dooms Fillies

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Sports

December 11, 2013 - 12:00 AM

BALDWIN CITY —A 10-minute scoreless spell spelled trouble for Iola High’s girls Tuesday evening.
The Fillies were more than holding their own against their old rivals from Chanute High in pool play of the Bulldog-Wildcat Invitational Tournament.
Addie Haar’s basket with 5:43 remaining in the third period gave Iola a 20-17 lead.
But things went south from there.
Iola didn’t score again until 3:30 showed on the clock — in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Chanute took off with a 13-0 run to lead 30-20.
Iola responded valiantly. Emma Piazza’s basket with 1:40 left in the game capped a seven-point Iola run.
But the Fillies missed on a series of golden opportunities to cut the lead further, or even pull even.
The Blue Comets rebounded Kyra Moore’s 3-point attempt with about 40 seconds left that would have tied the game, and hit 5 of 6 free throws from there to win, 35-27.
The loss drops Iola to 1-1 on the season and 0-1 in tournament pool play. The Fillies return to action tonight to take on host Baldwin in another pool play game. Results from the preliminary games will determine the start time for Friday’s final round. Baldwin defeated Chanute Monday in the opening contest.
“We had some good looks,” Iola head coach Becky Carlson said. “We just didn’t finish, and I was disappointed in our rebounding.”
Neither team could take control in the first half. Iola never led, yet Chanute never led by more than four. The Blue Comets took a 15-14 halftime lead before Emery Driskel scored 12 seconds into the second half to give Iola the lead for the first time. Driskel scored again 42 seconds later to push Iola up, 18-15. Chanute’s Anna Bagshaw sliced Iola’s lead to one before Addie Haar scored inside to put Iola on top, 20-17.
But Driskel’s third foul with 6:05 left in the third period sent her to the bench, leaving Iola without one of its primary scoring threats.
Chanute took full advantage.
Paige Kidwell scored to start the 13-point spurt. Bagshaw followed with two free throws to give the Comets the lead for good.
Jordan Schoenberger’s inside hoop broke a three-minute scoreless rut for Chanute before Bagshaw hit 1 of 2 charities to give the Comets a 24-20 lead after three.
Iola’s defense remained stingy, although Chanute’s run continued into the fourth quarter. Madi Rollins scored with 3:55 left in the game to put the Blue Comet lead into double digits.
Mikaela Platt ended the drought with a 3-pointer. Sydney Wade followed with a steal and two free throws, and suddenly, Iola’s deficit was at five.
Chanute came up empty on its next two possessions before Piazza scored to cut the gap to three.
“Our effort was very good,” Carlson said. “Emma Piazza played a great game for us, and Emery Driskel was good. Not that anybody played bad, but they were good. Ashlie Shields came off the bench and did a good job.”
One exasperating stretch with 50 seconds and the Fillies trailing by three was a perfect illustration of both teams’ struggles.
Chanute took possession after Driskel’s miss was knocked out of bounds by the Fillies. But the Blue Comets were whistled for traveling as they moved the ball up court against Iola’s press, only to get the ball back immediately when Wade was whistled for stepping out of bounds as she fielded a deflected inbound pass. Chanute, however, was then whistled for an offensive foul before it could get a pass off, giving possession back to Iola.
That was when Moore’s trey bounced off the front of the rim. Kate Batten hit four straight free throws to push Chanute’s lead out of reach on the Blue Comets’ next two possessions.
“I felt like we should have won the game,” Carlson said. “But we also should have done a better job at getting our backside rebounds.”
Driskel had seven points, Wade had six and Piazza five for the Fillies.
Bagshaw’s 11 points paced the Blue Comets. Rollins followed with nine.
Chanute (8-7-9-11—35)
Iola (6-8-6-7—27)
Chanute (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Martin 1-0-1-2, Bagshaw 2-7-5-11, Thompson 0-1-1-1, Batten 0-4-2-4, Kidwell 2-0-3-4, Schoenberger 2-0-0-4, Rollins 2/1-2-2-9. TOTALS: 9/1-14-14-35.
Iola (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Wade 1-4-5-6, Long 0-0-1-0, Moore 0-0-1-0, Piazza 1/1-0-2-5, Endicott 0-2-1-2, Haar 2-0-2-4, Platt 0/1-0-0-3, Driskel 3-1-4-7, Macha 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 7/2-7-17-27.

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